The Cousins: The Wolf
by MagicFireTiger
Summary: BOOK 2: Rapunzel's birthday is near, and our favorite royal family from Arendelle is visiting. It doesn't start out well. A boy who keeps crying wolf, a crazy adventure into the woods, and a man trying to take a place in Elsa's life are just the beginning, because people start disappearing—and an unforeseen plot begins to unfold. And it's all thanks to a person from someone's past.
1. Chapter 1: The Boy Who Cried Wolf

**A/N: WARNING: IF YOU HAVE NOT READ MY OTHER STORY, ICE MEETS FIRE, ALREADY, THIS STORY WILL BOTH NOT MAKE SENSE AND WILL HAVE SOME—NO, SEVERAL SPOILERS.**

**Now that that's out of the way…. YES! YES! YEEEEEEES! I am posting the sequel to ****Ice Meets Fire****, ****The Wolf****. First of all, thank you SO much for everyone's support on my first story. :) And now, I am making you happy; as far as I am aware, everyone has been positively DYING to read this. :P Oh, by the way, I'm pretty sure that this story will be a lot better plot-wise than Ice Meets Fire, and if the chapter lengths are going to be the same, there are bound to be more chapters (I think :P). Anyway, THANKS SO MUCH FOR DECIDING TO READ THIS! :D**

**Reviews, favorites, and follows are ALWAYS appreciated. :) I accept all kinds of constructive criticism. All that good stuff produces more story! :D**

—**MagicFireTiger**

**I own NOTHING—except anything you don't recognize from the two best Disney Princess movies of all time, including new characters, places, and the actual dialog of this story.**

* * *

**CHAPTER ONE**

**THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF**

This is the story of a family—a family that has gone through more tough-stuff than you can imagine. Not quite what you were expecting the swashbuckling ex-thief formerly known as Flynn Rider to start out with, huh? Well, it's true. This is the story of how a family became a _real_ family; not just people who are related by blood. Yeah, I know, really fluffy stuff I'm saying here. But whatever.

You already know the story of how I, Eugene Fitzherbert, died. And of how I froze to death. And of how I became a father—of _twins_. But I've never really understood the meaning of family—until six months after my kids, Lily and Benjamin, were born.

And it all started with a boy who cried wolf.

* * *

It was an average day in the land of Corona. People were going about their day-to-day lives, talking, laughing, and working. The children were playing in the town square, many of them trying to draw Corona's signature sun on the ground with chalk. The weather was warm and sunny, and a light breeze swept through the town, relieving the people of the hot summer air.

Princess Rapunzel of Corona, her husband, Eugene Fitzherbert, and their friend, a horse named Maximus, were all walking around the town square. The couple's six-month-old twins, Lily and Benjamin, were held in their arms, while a chameleon named Pascal sat on Rapunzel's shoulder. The young family was happy and content, wandering around and just enjoying life.

Rapunzel had very short, golden-brown hair, bright, emerald green eyes, pink cheeks, and a tiny, almost delicate seeming figure (though she was, of course, not as weak as you might think). Eugene had darker brown hair, hazel eyes often mistaken for brown, a strong stature (being a former thief probably helped with that), and even a goatee. Their son, Benjamin (Ben, for short), was a handsome young baby boy who looked like he would grow up to be an exact replica of his father; soft brown fuzz covered the top of his head, and he had hazel eyes that were the exact same shade as Eugene's. His twin sister, Lily, seemed to be some sort of combination of her parents; she had hazel eyes like her father, but they were huge, like Rapunzel's. There was also the fact that she had very golden hair that resembled her mother's exactly when she was a baby, according to the queen of Corona, Rapunzel's mother.

The whole family (at least, those who could appreciate it properly) was looking forward to the next few days. Rapunzel's cousins from Arendelle, Elsa and Anna, and the rest of their extended family would be visiting Corona during that time, since soon it would be Rapunzel's birthday. There would be the usual lantern celebration which you must already know of, and this would be the first time Elsa and Anna had visited Corona. Everyone was very excited about their arrival, which would actually be in just a few hours.

Rapunzel sighed happily, breaking a silence that had been going on as they walked throughout the village. "Oh, Eugene, I just can't wait! I'll be able to show Elsa and Anna everything, and everyone, and oh!" She gasped, looking at her husband with a grin on her face. "Lily and Ben! They barely saw them at Christmas, and—and Mary and Nya must be so excited to see them!"

Eugene nodded, smiling down at his wife. "Yeah, I bet you they are."

"Eee!" Rapunzel squealed with delight. "I just can't wait the next couple of hours—I just _can't_. I wonder how Anna and Elsa are doing? Anna and Kristoff just had their honeymoon—I wonder if it was as wonderful as ours?"

"You mean, being trapped in a freezing cold eternal winter with only a few blankets to spare?" Eugene asked, raising his eyebrows. "_And_ almost freezing to death?"

"Eugene, you're always so dramatic," Rapunzel said in an exasperated voice. "We did _not_ almost freeze to death."

"We did, too!" Eugene turned towards Maximus. "And I think we need more opinions on the matter. Max, do you agree that we almost froze to death?" he inquired of the horse.

Maximus stopped in his tracks, and so did everyone else. He nodded insistently at Eugene, his eyes widening.

"See? He agrees with me!" the ex-thief exclaimed, gesturing his hand towards the horse.

Rapunzel just shook her head. "What about Pascal, then?" She turned to look at the chameleon on her shoulder.

Pascal turned a guilty face to the princess, hunching back a little, and then nodded.

"A-HA!" Eugene shouted triumphantly. "See? We _did_ almost freeze to death! Told you." He smirked at Rapunzel.

She just rolled her eyes. "You make it sound as though our life as a couple has been horrible."

"Well, parts of it has."

"Like what?"

"Well, our wedding, for example…."

"And?"

"Like I just said, our honeymoon was a disaster."

"Anything else?"

"The twins were born on the craziest Christmas Eve of our lives."

Rapunzel shook her head. "Oh, Eugene. Is there anything good that's come out of our marriage?"

The ex-thief raised his eyebrows. "Umm…."

"The twins, Eugene, the twins!" Rapunzel exclaimed in an exasperated voice after a lengthy hesitation from her husband. "The fact that we are parents, and that we literally gave two people _life_!" She waved her arm that was not holding a baby around to make her meaning clearer.

Eugene smacked his head in mock realization. "Right, right, of course I didn't remember _that_," he said sarcastically.

"Then why didn't you answer me before?"

"To be honest, I have no idea."

Rapunzel sighed and rested her head on her husband's shoulder. "I love you, Eugene."

"I love you more."

"I love you least."

"What?!"

"I'm kidding!"

They walked on through the village towards the outskirts of it. Nearby the beach and a meadow close to it and the town, the family and animals sat down on a blanket Maximus had been carrying, to look at the ocean for a while. Eugene and Rapunzel set the twins down on the blanket and snuggled up together, keeping a watchful eye on Lily and Benjamin.

As she stared out across the ocean, Rapunzel recalled the events that had taken place six months ago, when she and Eugene had visited their family in Arendelle for her cousin's wedding. And boy, it was an… unusual way to end up having twins.

Many things happened. There was a fire in Arendelle, love blossomed, new family members were added. Elsa's heart froze, but she was soon healed by Hans, as a phoenix—and a different person. And Rapunzel became a mother. Wow.

She looked over her shoulder to the meadows behind her, and saw, standing there, a large dog. A moment later, she realized to her surprise that it was not a dog, but a wolf. _That's strange_, she thought. Wolves weren't very common around Corona. Then, the wolf turned around and with a swish of its tail was gone. Thinking nothing of it, Rapunzel set her head onto Eugene's shoulder, sighing with content.

Suddenly, a cry of pain came from where the babies were wandering around. Rapunzel instantly hurried over to where they were, a little farther away on the sand. She saw Benjamin crying, waving his fat little fists around, while his sister sat by, watching and wondering what was wrong.

"Ben!" Rapunzel exclaimed, as Eugene appeared beside her. She noticed a red crab hanging onto one of his flailing fingers for dear life. "Oh, baby. Here, let Mama help."

Just then, Lily started crying. Eugene hurried to pick her up and try to calm her. But she wouldn't stop wailing. Rapunzel looked over at the ex-thief, who nodded, letting her know that he would take care of their daughter, while she comforted their son.

She grabbed the baby up in her arms and gently took the crab off of his finger, setting it onto the ground. It instantly scuttled away, as though it had more important things to do, which it probably did. Rapunzel then kissed Benjamin's finger, trying to calm him.

But he was still hurt. Her baby was still hurt, and she didn't want that. So, after kissing Ben's finger once more, Rapunzel began to sing her special healing song she used to use, mostly to comfort her son, a lullaby she sang to him and Lily often.

"Flower, gleam and glow,

"Let your power shine.

"Make the clock reverse,

"Bring back what once was mine.

"Heal what has been hurt,

"Change the Fate's design.

"Save what has been lost,

"Bring back what once was mine,

"What once was mine."

During the song, Lily started squirming out of her father's reach and eventually was freed, her faced tear-streaked and red. She crawled over to Benjamin and snuggled up to him, her golden hair seeming to fall from the sides of her face and onto her brother. And suddenly, the pain that was still showing in Ben's face left. His finger didn't look so swollen and red anymore.

By the time she was done, Benjamin was cooing happily in Rapunzel's arms. He looked at his sister and smiled. Rapunzel grinned as well, feeling very glad that her baby boy was okay.

"Do you think we should head home now? The others will be here soon," she said, mentioning her cousins and their other Arendelle family.

"Sure," Eugene replied, gathering Lily, who had been staring at her mother and brother with her wide, hazel eyes as Rapunzel comforted and healed Ben.

They had not gone very far, however, and were just passing a nearby field on their way to the village when a terrified voice rang out across the area.

"Wolf! Help! There's a wolf trying to get my sheep! Somebody, come help! A wolf! Help!"

After hearing this, Rapunzel and Eugene looked at each other, nodding. And so, with Maximus following close behind, they ran towards a hill in the field where the voice was coming from. A few townsfolk joined them, having heard the voice from the village.

Once they reached the hill, however, they did not see what they had been expecting. There _was_ a young boy around twelve years old, standing amidst a large flock of sheep, but there was no wolf in sight. The boy was bent over, clutching his stomach, laughing his head off.

"Where's the wolf?"

"Is it gone?"

"Did it take any sheep?"

These were what the villagers were asking, and instead of answering, the boy just laughed harder than ever.

"You're all fools, you are. There's no wolf! I was just making that up! But, boy, that sure was _funny_!" he exclaimed, now almost crying with laughter.

Rapunzel walked straight up the hill to him. "Young man!" she said sternly, her face ablaze with ferocity. "This was not funny at all! Pretending there was a wolf trying to get to your sheep! I saw a wolf earlier, and I thought that was the same one! What were you thinking?! That was very disobedient of you!"

The boy looked at her, a shocked look on his face. A young woman with a baby in her arms contradicting _him_? And she wasn't even his mother! Wait, what wolf?

"Wha—"

"Rapunzel, come here," Eugene muttered, pulling his wife away from the baffled boy. "Calm down…."

"I will _not_ calm down!" Rapunzel exclaimed to her husband, and then turned back to the boy. "You scared me half to death—!"

"Blondie!"

"What, Eugene Fitzherbert?"

"Seriously, you're upsetting Ben!"

Looking down at her baby, Rapunzel saw that Eugene was right. Benjamin's face had crunched up in concern. Turning back to her husband, Rapunzel's eyes filled with tears as she kissed her baby boy, and then, for good measure, Lily as well.

"I'm so sorry," Rapunzel said hurriedly to the baffled young boy standing in front of her. "I really, really am. That was not the proper thing for a princess to do. Please forgive me; that was _way_ out of line. I have no idea what got into me. Please forgive me," she repeated, giving a small, pleading smile.

The boy nodded, still at a loss for words. What the heck was going on here? Wait, was this the _princess_? She wasn't even wearing a crown! He thought all princesses wore crowns.

"Excuse me," came a man's voice from amidst the crowd of the people surrounding them. "Peter! Come here!"

The boy's attention was jerked away from the royal family, and he turned with a sulky expression to face a gruff, grumpy-looking man.

"Peter!" he continued angrily. "What do you think you were doing? Scaring all those people like that! Come here, you." He proceeded to grab the boy's ear with one hand and started dragging him away, muttering, "In front of the princess, too! What's gotten into you, boy?"

_You're not my mother, either_, thought the boy, wondering why all these people were reprimanding him like he was two years old.

"Wait!" Rapunzel exclaimed. The man turned to face her again, his face now turning red with fury, still holding onto the boy's ear.

"Yes, Highness?" he asked, seemingly annoyed.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I can't and won't tolerate this," Rapunzel said calmly. "I mean, yes, I did yell at him, too, but holding onto his ear like that? Please, I don't want him to be hurt. We don't do things like that in Corona." She tried smiling at him, but it was overshadowed by the glower given by the man.

"Fine," he said, letting go of the boy's ear and thrusting him away roughly. "Come on, Peter." He led him away. The boy chanced a glance behind his shoulder, staring at Rapunzel, still with that curious expression on his face.

"Well, that was a waste of my time," one of the townsfolk muttered.

"Same here," another agreed.

"Shall we get going, then?" Rapunzel looked up at Eugene. "I'm almost positive that the others will be arriving now."

"Sure," he answered, scratching the back of his neck.

"Come on, Lily and Benjamin," Rapunzel whispered to her babies. "Let's go say 'hello' to my cousins."

* * *

**Hope you enjoyed! Remember, reviews keep me going (you know)! :D**


	2. Chapter 2: The Arrival

**A/N: First of all… thank you so much, guys, for all of your support! I would like to thank Fire230, Polaris123, and MagicIceDolphin for reviewing, 'favoriting', and following The Wolf. I would also like to thank DaughterofNeptun for reviewing and 'favoriting' it. And CoolWizard22 and AmericianCitirus for following it. All of your support really helps.**

**Also, I don't know if I already said this, but plot-wise, I'm pretty sure that this story is going to be better than Ice Meets Fire. Also, it'll probably be longer. Just so you know. :)**

**Reviews, favorites, and follows are ALWAYS appreciated. :) I accept all kinds of constructive criticism. All that good stuff produces more story! :D**

—**MagicFireTiger**

**I own NOTHING—except anything you don't recognize from the two best Disney Princess movies of all time, including new characters, places, and the actual dialog of this story.**

* * *

**CHAPTER TWO**

**THE ARRIVAL**

The moment that Rapunzel, Eugene, Maximus, Pascal, Lily, and Benjamin arrived at the place where the ship from Arendelle would be landing, they saw a large dot appear on the horizon before them. It seemed to take forever for it to take shape into a brown ship, and even longer for it to finally arrive at the Corona docks. They could see a crowd of people on the deck of the ship, all waving frantically; Rapunzel's cousins, Elsa and Anna; Kristoff Bjorman, Anna's husband; Kaara, Kristoff's younger sister; Nathan, a close friend; Mary and Nya, recently made princesses of Arendelle; Olaf, a snowman; Summer, a snowlady; and Sven the reindeer.

Once the group of people had finally joined the Corona family, Anna gave a loud, indistinguishable shout about something like the 'first time in forever', and instantly proceeded to gather everyone up in a group hug.

"Hey, Rapunzel! Eugene! Max! Pascal! And… oh!" she let go of them and exclaimed, "Lily and Ben!"

"Hi!" Elsa said at around the same time, as did Nathan.

"Hello, everyone!" Kaara cried out.

Rapunzel giggled. "Hi! Hi! Hi!"

There was quite a lot of commotion, of course; perhaps even more than six months ago, when the Corona family had arrived at Arendelle. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that there were more people to greet, or maybe it was because they had all grown much closer during the time around Anna and Kristoff's wedding. Either way, the excited greetings lasted for a little while, until everyone had finally settled down to talk a bit more clearly.

"Oh, can I see the babies?" Nya asked, her hazel eyes boring into Rapunzel's green ones.

"Sure," Rapunzel replied, holding Benjamin out for the little girl to see.

Nya reached forward and gently stroked the baby boy's soft brown hair. "He's _sooo_ cute!"

Rapunzel smiled. "Thank you, Nya."

"You're welcome!"

Mary put a hand to Benjamin's face. "I wish I had a baby brother like him."

"Oh, really?" Rapunzel looked curiously at the ten-year-old.

"Yeah," Mary answered. Then her expression turned to one of sadness. "We used to have one. Nya wouldn't remember him. He died with our parents. His name was James."

"Oh, Mary, Nya, I'm so sorry!" Rapunzel exclaimed. She, nor anyone else, had ever heard either of the two sisters say a word about their parents. The Corona princess proceeded to grab them all up into a hug. "Don't worry, guys. 'Orphanism' seems to run in this family. And you've got all of us. Just remember that."

She let go of the two girls, then stared them straight in the eye. "Just remember that," Rapunzel repeated.

They both nodded. Those sister really did look alike, the princess realized. They both had long, brown hair and beautiful hazel eyes. Nya seemed to be just a miniature version of Mary; the only difference was the white streak in her hair made by Elsa on that fateful Christmas Eve just months before.

Nearby, the three men were speaking among themselves.

"Eugene, how's it going?" Kristoff inquired, smiling.

"Good," the ex-thief replied with a grin on his face. "You?"

"I'm good," Kristoff said.

"How's life?" Nathan asked.

"Good…?"

Nathan laughed. "Good."

"Good, good," Anna put in.

Giggling, Rapunzel added, "Good, good, good, _good_."

"What, are we playing the 'good' game now?" Eugene asked.

"Good," Rapunzel answered.

"Like the Spinach game?"

"Good."

"What's the Spinach game?" Nya wondered aloud.

Instead of saying the word 'good', Rapunzel replied with normal words, "It's where people ask a bunch of random questions, and one person answers them by saying 'spinach'. If the 'spinach' person laughs, the person who asked the question that made them laugh is the next 'spinach' person, or is 'it'. You can also do it where you can't smile, either, to make it more challenging."

"Ooh!" Nya squealed. "I'll go first! Umm… somebody ask me a question!"

"Okay…" Anna said. "What's your name?"

"Spinach!" Nya exclaimed excitedly.

"What's your favorite color?" Kaara inquired.

"Spinach green!" said Nya.

"What's your _favorite_ type of food to eat?" Rapunzel asked, using an alluring voice on the word 'favorite'.

"Ew, spinach!" Nya tried holding in her giggles as best she could, and barely stopped herself from laughing.

"Hey, Nya," Elsa said, her face slowly turning up in a mischievous smile, wiggling her fingers around as she continued, "What kind of powers do I have?"

"_Spinach powers_!" At this, Nya broke down in a fit of laughter that could not be stopped for a while, and even then she was left with enormous hiccups that took some time to calm.

"Okay, Elsa, your turn!" Anna exclaimed.

People began showering her with questions, most of them quite random—

"What's your castle made out of?"

"What do you eat for breakfast _every day_?"

"Do you have ice powers, Snow Queen?"

"What is your favorite meal?"

"What is your name?"

—But none of them could make her laugh. Elsa just stood there, poised a graceful, without even so much as a smile, answering each question with a calm 'spinach'. But inside, she was laughing like crazy, these questions were just so random and goofy. Maybe it was partly because she was just feeling so happy at the moment—because in reality, these questions weren't quite as funny as funny can get. The air started turning colder around them, and snow started to fall on top of her (but only her).

Seeing that Elsa was about to break down in giggles, Nathan gave his best shot at making her actually laugh.

"What do my armpits smell like?" He bent over, waving his arms around kind of like a… monkey, perhaps.

At this, Elsa started shaking, and then almost crying, with laughter. How this question was so hilarious, she did not know, but it sure was making her howl. Life was sometimes just so _funny_.

"Okay, okay, someone ask—_hic_—Nate a ques—_hic_—tion," Elsa said between hiccups.

However, before anyone could do so, Nathan raised up his hands as if in surrender. "Sorry, guys, but all this talk of food is making me hungry. Is lunch ready at the palace?"

"Umm, probably," Rapunzel said. Just then, Benjamin spit up on her shoulder. "Oh, Ben, baby, let me clean that up." She took a handkerchief out of a satchel carried by Maximus, and then proceeded to wipe her baby and herself clean. "Let's go," she said after she was done.

On the way to the palace, the family and friends caught up on news, talked about different and perhaps random things, but most of all, they laughed. They all sort of walked in groups, actually. It was so good to be back together again after six months of separation.

"So who's taking your place as queen, Elsa? Back at Arendelle? Who's in charge?" Rapunzel inquired of her oldest cousin, who was walking with her, Kaara, and Anna.

"Oh, a man named Sebastian Alexander. He was the temporary monarch of Arendelle during the time between my coronation and my parents' passing," Elsa replied. At that last note, her tone turned to one of sadness.

"Okay," Rapunzel said. Suddenly, Lily, who was in her arms at the moment (Benjamin was with Eugene), started crying, scrunching up her face in tears. "Oh, Lily, baby." She started humming softly, and her daughter's crying stopped and she fell asleep in her mother's arms.

"Oh, she's _so_ cute!" Kaara said sweetly.

"Totally. What's it like, being a new mom and all?" Anna asked Rapunzel.

"Oh, it's as wonderful as it could be, I suppose," Rapunzel sighed, hoisting Lily up in her arms to get a better grip on her."It can get really tricky and tiring, but at least I'm always rewarded with these two little lives I call my own. And Eugene helps a lot, too—I suppose. And so do Mom and Dad."

"That's good." Anna smiled.

"Agreed," Kaara put in, chuckling a little.

* * *

Elsa looked at her sister. Oh, how she had missed her so much during those years of isolation, thanks to her ice powers. She noticed Lily yawn in Rapunzel's arms, and a thought came to her, partially brought about by her remembering her own ice powers.

"Hey, Rapunzel?" she asked, a little hesitantly.

"Yes?"

"Umm… I was wondering… okay, Lily's hair is really noticeable…."

"Yes?" Rapunzel repeated.

"And I know how you used to have blond hair like that. Rapunzel, does Lily have healing powers like you did—well, like you used to?" Elsa asked in a slightly hurried tone of voice.

Rapunzel's expression turned into one of hesitancy, unsureness, and even a little secrecy.

"Well…" she started. Then she sighed. "Okay. You're my cousins; you're family. I can trust you on this. Right?"

"So I'm taking this as a yes?" Elsa said in a questioning voice.

Rapunzel nodded wordlessly. "Yes. Lily has the same healing powers as me."

Elsa, Anna, and Kaara's eyes all widened at the same time—ice-blue, blue-green, and puppy-dog-brown.

"Really?" Anna yelped in an awestruck voice. Then, realizing her loud mistake, she added in hushed tones, "Really? So she really _does_ have them?" Anna wondered aloud. "Wow. I mean, I saw that she has the golden hair and all, but I wasn't sure if that was true. Of course it is, though." She smiled sheepishly.

Rapunzel nodded again.

"How did you find out?" Kaara asked.

"Well, she has the hair, for one thing," Rapunzel said, stroking it gently—but not as though she was obsessing over it, of course. "And, well—now, I wasn't really sure about this, because it just seemed a little bit like we were using her—" She lowered her voice a little "—but a while ago, Ben got a little cut, you know? Well, I wrapped some of Lily's hair around it and then sang the healing song, and when I was done, Ben was all better."

"Oh, wow," Anna said.

"Yeah," Rapunzel agreed.

* * *

A little bit behind them, Kristoff, Eugene, and Nathan were having their own conversation.

"So, how's the ice business going?" Eugene inquired of Kristoff.

"Pretty well, actually," the ice harvester replied. "Nathan here joined up a little while ago."

"Really?" Eugene raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, well, I haven't really decided what to do with my life yet, honestly," Nathan replied, "so I decided to give ice harvesting a try, even though Elsa didn't think I was quite that kind of a person, if you know what I mean." He grinned sheepishly. "If I end up not liking it, I'll have to try out something else. Maybe I'll even take up thieving," he added mischievously.

Eugene punched his shoulder playfully. "Come on, Nathan."

The soldier—or ice harvester—or something—chuckled. "Yeah, but what if I find a beautiful maiden locked up in a tower?"

Eugene raised his eyebrows again. "I think you've already found that beautiful maiden. Don't you, Kris?" he inquired of the ice harvester. The three men all looked over at Elsa, who was walking with the other girls a little farther on, before Kristoff spoke.

"First of all, don't call me Kris," he replied, a little grumpily. "And second of all, yes. Nathan, you've already got one of the prettiest girls ever (not counting Anna) set on you; plus, she's the queen. The _Snow Queen_.What more could you ask for?"

"Nothing," Nathan said, sighing and grinning at Elsa, who turned her head around and smiled back.

* * *

Just looking at Nathan took Elsa's breath away. Those deep, sea-blue eyes were simply enchanting. And Elsa's feelings towards him had grown so much during the six months that she had known him. Back at Arendelle, they had often talked together, sometimes in the library, sometimes in the garden, sometimes at meals.

In her mind, she imagined his goofy grin. Elsa loved Nathan's smile. And his eyes. _One could just get lost in them and never care if they couldn't find their way back out again_, she thought. Then she shook her head.

_It seems like I barely know him, and I have such deep feelings for him already. I mean, yes, I have known him for practically half a year, but I kissed him just days after we met…. So much for not rushing things._

She sighed, but then consoled herself by thinking, _At least I didn't get engaged to him five minutes after we met._ That was a relief. She loved Anna, but Elsa thought that sometimes she could be a little bit… rushed. She didn't seem to ever think before she acted. Fortunately, that had changed. Anna had waited two _years_ after she had met Kristoff before they had become engaged—which might have actually been a little long, according to her (it was mainly Kristoff who had made them wait so long, also according to her).

Elsa turned to look back at Nathan. She saw him holding Benjamin, who had been given to him by Eugene. He was gently stroking those soft, peachy cheeks and staring at the baby as though Ben was the most adorable thing in the world. The queen smiled. It seemed that Nathan really loved babies; when they were back in Arendelle, he would play with the townsfolk's children often, and now look at him and Rapunzel's son.

_He's _so_ sweet…._

"Elsa?" Kaara's voice broke into her thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Nya wants you to show her some of your magic."

Elsa looked down at the little girl, a little bit surprised. But before she could even open her mouth to speak, there came a scared, pained shout. They were now in a long alleyway, one of the many routes to the palace of Corona.

"Please! Somebody, help! I got bit! It hurts!"

Rounding a corner, they saw to their astonishment and horror that a young woman was on the ground. A streak of grey flashed past her, darting into the forest nearby. The woman was clutching her leg, which had red bite marks in it. And they were deep.

* * *

Rapunzel, seeing the horrible wound, instantly reached for something that wasn't there. Her hair. She needed to heal this woman—but wait… nobody in the kingdom besides her parents and the rest of her extended royal family knew about her remaining powers… at least, yet. But here, right in front of her, was someone in need, someone who had to be healed. But what if someone like Mother—blech, 'Mother'—Gothel tried to use that fact to his or her advantage?

But the part of Rapunzel that made her an extraordinary princess overruled that hesitancy, and she raced over to the young woman's side. They were at the edge of town, near the forest of Corona and the meadow where the boy had cried wolf earlier, and no one was in sight; they were just in a little alley. Rapunzel knelt down beside the sobbing woman and gently touched her shoulder.

Her eyes seemed to show the pain she was in as the woman looked at Rapunzel. "Please help me," she mouthed, her eyes begging the princess. She continued to clutch the wound. Suddenly, a flash of black darkened her eyes for a moment. But the next second, it was gone.

"Just stay calm," Rapunzel said soothingly. Then she wondered what in the world she was going to do. She needed tears to heal someone now, and she really wasn't in the mood to cry right now. Unless….

"Hey, somebody, get me a cut up onion!" she exclaimed to the group in front of her. They all looked at her, baffled.

That is, until Kaara's eyes sparked with understanding. She nodded, then turned to one of the pockets in her dress. Out of it, she pulled a peeling, brown vegetable, just what Rapunzel needed. She then took a pocketknife out of the same thing and handed both onion and knife to the Corona princess.

Without wondering why Kaara had an onion in her pocket, Rapunzel took the two items. Then she proceeded to cut the onion right in front of her, making her eyes sting. But that was what she wanted, and a moment later, they began to water, and in another second, they were filling with tears. Wow, that onion worked quickly. _Perfect_.

Taking a hand to her eye, Rapunzel wiped some of the water out of her it and slid it across the woman's leg, and she cringed in pain. She then started to sing her special healing song, the person in front of her staring at the princess in awe, but still as though her leg really hurt. During the song, the wound seemed to reverse itself, being healed before everyone's eyes. It was really a very strange and amazing thing to see; what had formerly been raw flesh had turned back into smooth skin.

"Wha…." The woman's word trailed off into silence. Her eyes were no longer suffering and begging. They were wide and awestruck. "Princess…."

Rapunzel gave a small smile. "Yes. You may have heard the stories of how I used to have healing powers. And I did. I actually still do. But please, I think it would be best for you not to tell anyone. Please?"

The woman's expression suddenly turned serious. "Of course, you Highness," she said. "I'm just so grateful that you saved me."

"Can you tell me exactly what happened?" Rapunzel asked.

The woman nodded. "Of course, Princess. Well, to put it simply, I was walking down this alley when a huge dog came running up to me. Or maybe it was a wolf. I couldn't tell. A moment later, it was on top of me and had bit my leg. And then it ran away, and you came and saved me." She gave a watery smile. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. But I don't even know your name. Would you mind telling me?"

"Anything for you, Princess. I am forever indebted to you. My name is Chrysanthemum. But my friends call me Chrys for short."

"So I'm not alone in the world of long flower names." Rapunzel chuckled. So did Chrys. "And I would like to consider _you_ a friend now, hmm?"

Chrys smiled warmly. "Well, thank you again, Princess Rapunzel. I must get back to my husband; he must be wondering where I am," Chrys said.

"Of course." Rapunzel returned the smile. "Just one more thing before you go; could you please try to keep this a secret? At least, about my healing powers? You can tell your husband. He'll need to know what happened. Just, please, keep this a secret as much as you can. Okay?"

Chrys nodded, standing up with the help of Rapunzel. "Of course, Princess. I would do anything for you. I wouldn't dream of doing anything against your wishes." She smiled again, and then turned around, heading back down the alleyway. She turned around to wave one last time, and then went around a corner and was gone.

Rapunzel sighed and turned back to her friends, who had watched this encounter without a word. "So, shall we get going, then? My parents will be wondering where we've been."

Everyone nodded simultaneously, even the horse, reindeer, and chameleon. Pascal had sat on Maximus this whole time.

Though Rapunzel seemed to be very cheerful on the outside, inside, she was wondering if she had done the right thing, revealing her powers to practically a complete stranger. She was also curious to know about this mysterious creature that had bit Chrysanthemum.

However, as they all continued on their way to the palace of Corona, Rapunzel's thoughts were interrupted as a voice, filled with fear, echoed throughout the town.

"Help! Help me! Please! Please help me! I need you! My sheep! My sheep are being attacked! Help! A wolf!"

Rapunzel saw Eugene's expression turn to one of irritation. He muttered something that sounded very much like, "Not again…."

* * *

**Remember, reviews and such produce more story! Thanks, everyone, and have a great day! :D**


	3. Chapter 3: Peter Cries Again

**A/N: Sorry this update was a little later than before. (*snorts* **_**a little**_**). Yep, that's probably what you're all thinking. I think. :P Well, to make up for the late update, I present you with a longer-than-usual chapter! Oh, and by the way, thank you to all those who have reviewed so far! You're AMAZING!**

**I OWN NOTHING THAT YOU RECOGNIZE TO BE ORIGINALLY DISNEY**

**And…. ENJOY!**

* * *

**CHAPTER THREE**

**PETER CRIES AGAIN**

Everyone immediately ran in the direction where the voice was coming from: the meadows. They raced onto one of the hills, and the sight before them was not unfamiliar to the people from Corona. There was the same twelve-year-old boy, standing in the same position as before (bent over and laughing fit to burst), surrounded by a harmless, very white flock of sheep.

"Again… again… I fooled you… again!" he shouted, barely being able to speak, his mirth was so great. "Fools! You're all absolute _fools_!"

Some people from town had gathered around for the same reason as the royal family. Now they were infuriated. The boy seemed to be right; he had tricked them once more, and they were all envisioning themselves as fools.

"We are! The boy's right!"

"I can't _believe_ this!"

"I canceled a sale for _this_?"

"Wait, what?" Anna said in a very confused voice. "What does he mean, 'again'?" she asked, turning to Olaf, who just stared at her blankly. "Why am I asking you? You're a snowman," she muttered to herself before facing Rapunzel. "What does he mean, 'again'?" the princess repeated.

Her cousin took a deep breath before replying. "He cried wolf earlier, before you guys arrived. And I think I need to handle this myself."

She stepped forward, but before she could even open her mouth to speak, Eugene put a gentle but firm hand on her shoulder. Rapunzel looked at him.

"What?"

"Here. You had your turn last time. Let _me _handle this."

Rapunzel raised her eyebrows, but after a second, it seemed she had given in. "Fine," she relented, holding out her hands in a gesture that meant that her husband could pass. "Be my guest."

"Thank you." Eugene nodded stiffly to his wife. Then he approached the boy in front of them, who had been watching the couple with confusion on his face.

"Okay, look, um…" he started, and suddenly wished he knew the boy's name.

"Peter."

"Okay, then, Peter." The ex-thief cleared his throat. "Look. I understand you might think this is funny and all, but seriously, it's not. I mean, twice in a day, eh, yeah, I dunno about you, but to me, I think just one joke in one day is probably best. Actually, I have an experience with this one joke that went kinda _crazy_ when I did it once too often. It was before I started the whole 'thieving' thing, which you probably already know about. Well, I used to stay at this orphanage, and when I was old enough, I became an apprentice to a printer at a print shop. Anyway, my employer-guy had made me do this _huge_ load of stuff, and I decided to mess up on purpose. He didn't realize it until too late, when the newspaper had been sent out. And he had written one of these sections in it, and guess what I did? I signed his name as—"

"Are you supposed to be lecturing him on how to do a proper prank or how to be a proper young man?" Elsa interrupted.

Eugene gave her a look. "Okay, fine. Anyways, just, Peter, it's not really that cool to do stuff like that, okay? No more of it. Hear me?"

The boy, who had looked up in surprise when the ex-thief had first started instructing on a good joke, looked even more shocked that he had gotten away with this so easily. That is, until the same hulking, gruff man from earlier (whom Eugene assumed to be the boy's father) came walking up to them with a positively mean look on his face.

"This is not your boy," he said in a voice that matched his expression perfectly. "_I_ will reprimand him how _I_ like it, and _I_ will not have _you_ be doing it." With that, he proceeded to grab Peter's ear (again) and started practically dragging him away.

"Hey!" Eugene cried out indignantly. "Dude! You're hurting him!"

The man just ignored him. That is, until the ex-thief's patience ran out and he slapped him on the shoulder.

The person whom he assumed to be Peter's father then turned around with a dark look on his face that reminded Eugene horribly of the Stabbington Brothers.

"Excuse me?" His voice seemed to hold such menace in it that even the former Flynn Rider was ready to cower with fear.

"Umm… uh…. Nothing…." Suddenly, inspiration struck him. He knew it was quite a risky thing to do, but the Flynn Rider side of Eugene overcame him.

"Actually…. Take _that_!" And without further ado, Eugene pulled a certain something out of a satchel held by Maximus, who was standing right behind him, and proceeded to knock the man upside the head with a very useful cooking utensil in one smooth motion. "Frying pans! Who knew, right?"

"_EUGENE_!"

There is no possible way to describe how angry, vicious, violent, fearsome, and positively deadly Rapunzel was right now. She glowered up at her husband, and it seemed to him that she could win against the man before them (who had not been knocked unconscious—what was up with that?) with an evil-look contest.

"Why in the world of worlds did you do that?!" she exclaimed with indescribable indignation.

"Umm… uh…." Unlike with Peter's father, Eugene somehow gave in to the anger now before him. "Fine. Sorry. But that guy was really being a butt! Seriously!"

"But that is no way to treat the people of Corona! You are their _prince_!"

"Uh…."

But just at that moment, the man in front of them caught their attention by clearing his throat. The couple turned their heads to look at him, and saw a look of very severe anger and raised eyebrows.

Rapunzel tried to smile at his glowering figure—but found that she couldn't. "I am _so_ sorry, sir. I honestly don't know what came over Eugene."

The boy's father looked at her, and then at the ex-thief. He nodded, and his expression softened a little. "Whatever. And by the way—why a frying pan?"

"Um… they can be very useful. Sometimes," Eugene said in reply, still feeling extremely intimidated by the man before him.

"We'll be going, now, then. My son has got a _lot_ of explaining to do." And without further ado, the man put a hand to Peter's shoulder, pushing him along in the direction he had come.

The people from the village who had witnessed this encounter then went back to town, a lot of them muttering and wondering about what had just happened.

"People can be just… I dunno. Irritating. I think," Anna noted.

"Please do _not_ tell anyone what just happened. Please," Eugene said hurriedly, ignoring the Arendelle princess's comment, to which everyone assented.

"Well," Rapunzel said, pulling herself together. "I think that we can all head back to our day-to-day lives, now. Guys, follow me. We have had too many delays already. It is time for us to have some lunch."

* * *

A few minutes later, the extremely large group of friends had arrived at the doors to the castle of Corona. Rapunzel nodded and curtsied to the two guards standing beside the doors, who both bowed and smiled in return. Inside, they could all see the walls were painted in light, pretty, calming colors, often adorned with simply amazing murals done by the princess herself. Sofas, framed paintings, mirrors, side tables, suits of armor, the occasional window, and such lined the long walls. Crystal chandeliers adorned the ceiling above them. It was similar to the palace of Arendelle, yet different as well.

"Whoa…" Olaf said in awe. "This is some castle! I _love it_!"

"Me, too!" Summer put in excitedly. "I _love_ it, too!"

"Castles are amazing!" the snowman exclaimed.

"I know, right?" the snowlady agreed.

"I want a castle of my own!" Olaf decided suddenly.

"Me, too!" Summer exclaimed.

"I could decorate it with seashells, and it could be made out of sand, and it could have a lemonade fountain, too!"

"Like summer!"

"Yeah, like you!"

"You would be king, and I would be queen!"

"Yeah! I _love_ that idea!" said Olaf.

"Me, too!" agreed Summer.

Eugene walked over to Kristoff and Nathan and muttered, putting a hand next to his mouth, "Are they always like that? I mean, I know what Olaf's like, I guess, but Summer, too?"

"Yep," the two other men replied at the same time.

"Interesting…. But, I guess one can live with that. I think. I dunno, can you?"

"Nope," Kristoff and Nathan said simultaneously.

"Ooh-kay, then," Eugene said, slightly disconcerted.

"It's just a little farther on until we find my parents. I told them we'd meet up in the throne room, and then head over to the dining room for lunch," Rapunzel explained to the group at large.

A chorus of 'okays' echoed throughout the hallway from the people. They continued on, now in silence (except, for the two snowpeople, continuing with their ideas about having a castle of their own), deciding to save more conversation topics for lunch and just thinking right now.

Rapunzel recalled what had happened since her cousins had arrived. First, the game of Spinach, which went very well, next, she ended up healing someone from a dog-or-wolf bite, and lastly, the boy named Peter had cried wolf for the second time. A lot was going on in her mind.

_Should I have not healed Chrysanthemum? I revealed my powers to practically a complete stranger…. But it was to help her. She needed me. I couldn't have just let her stay that way, in pain. I don't like pain._

She shuddered, as, for some reason, an image of Eugene appeared in Rapunzel's mind. He was gaunt, lifeless, pale, injured—in pain. It was when he had been stabbed by Mother Gothel all those years ago in that tower. And only because he loved her.

No, she shouldn't be thinking of that right now. But somehow, that thought lead to another unsettling piece of mind.

Peter. Thinking back to what the boy had just done, Rapunzel became infuriated once more. He had tried and succeeded in fooling the people around him to believe that there was a wolf attacking his sheep. Twice. It was such a ridiculous thing, too. She wondered how she could have fallen for that prank two times. And the princess also couldn't believe that he had done it twice in the same day.

After having stewed in these thoughts for what seemed like quite a while (though it was only a few minutes), Rapunzel had arrived at her destination with her friends and family in tow. Once again, she bowed to the men standing beside two huge doors, this time leading to their destination. The guards then opened the doors for everyone and they all walked inside.

* * *

The throne room was huge, perhaps even larger than the one at Arendelle, as Elsa observed. It was long and narrow, with many purple banners showing Corona's emblem, a golden sun, on them. At the other end, on a raised platform, stood four chairs with similar banners draped across them. Two of them were for the king and queen; those were on opposite sides of yet another banner hanging through the center of the back wall. The chairs next to each of the first ones were for the princess and prince consort, Rapunzel and Eugene.

Sitting in the obvious thrones were Rapunzel's parents, Queen Primrose and King Benjamin. The queen seemed to be almost an exact replica of her daughter; her eyes were emerald green; her hair, though much longer, was the exact same shade of brown as Rapunzel's with the same flip at the top, near the part; and their faces were just so similar (though, the princess's nose was slightly more upturned than her mother's). The king, on the other hand, though he did have brown hair like his wife and daughter, looked almost nothing like either (which made sense, in some ways). He had a bushy brown beard and light blue eyes, and was very tall and fatherly-looking.

Queen Primrose was the sister of the former King Agdar of Arendelle. They had both lived in Arendelle until Primrose had left to marry the prince of Corona, though Agdar had stayed, of course, to be king and eventually married Princess Idun of another kingdom.

Of course, time went on, and each of these couples had families. Eventually, Rapunzel was reunited with her parents, which was when the Arendelle couple was in that dreadful storm to finally meet their niece, and… things happened. It was then three years later that Rapunzel and Eugene, for their honeymoon, had ventured out to the kingdom to witness Elsa's coronation for obvious reasons.

King Benjamin and Queen Primrose both smiled warmly at the crowd in front of them, standing up to greet their family. Rapunzel's mother held out her arms to them with her head tilted slightly to one side. But a moment later, her expression of welcome became one of horror and disgust as she laid eyes on the two snowpeople in the group before her.

It probably didn't help, either, that right at that moment, Olaf and Summer had been playing tag together, and they had both stopped dead. And their body parts were all in the wrong places, too.

The Corona princess, however, did not seem to notice this, and instantly rushed up to her and hugged her mother tightly, but then let go immediately and saw the look on the queen's face.

"Mother, what's wrong?"

"What are… those?" Queen Primrose pointed a slightly shaking finger at the snowman and snowlady.

"Olaf and Summer!" Rapunzel exclaimed indignantly as the two snowpeople started helping each other put their body parts back on. "I told you about them, remember?"

"You did?" her mother wondered aloud. But then she shook her head to clear it and took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She opened them again, and this time the expression on her face turned back to the one it had been moments before. "Of course. I am sorry, Olaf, Summer. I had completely forgotten about the two of you."

"We're snowpeople. We cannot be offended!" they replied simultaneously, still with their unchallengeable innocence.

"Well, now that that's sorted out, hello, everyone, and welcome to Corona!" Primrose beamed at them all.

Elsa, Anna, Kristoff, Kaara, and Nathan all curtsied or bowed before the king and queen. Olaf, Summer, Mary, Nya, and Sven didn't really know what to do, but everyone except the snowpeople eventually caught on and copied the others. Even Sven.

However, Queen Primrose quickly waved them off, saying airily, "Oh, there's no need for that. You're family, of course. Come here."

At that, Anna did the same thing that her cousin had done before, except this time, she grabbed King Benjamin's arm and pulled him in, too. "Come on, guys!" she exclaimed to the group at large, who all joined them in one big, happy family group hug.

It seemed as though no one wanted to let each other go (hugs were addicting like that), but they couldn't stay that way forever. And so, after a little while, the queen broke everyone up and spoke as kindly and motherly as a good queen should and would.

"Rapunzel has told me so much about all of you," she said. "It's so wonderful to meet you at last. I am so sorry we weren't able to come to your coronation, Elsa. The king and I had other very important affairs we had to attend to that we could not delay or cancel. That was the same with your wedding, Anna." She looked at all of them fondly, though also with an almost sad look in her eye.

Elsa nodded her head understandingly. "Of course, Queen Primrose."

At this, the queen's face turned down in concern. "Now, Elsa, dear, we're family. There's no need for that. I already told you. Just call me _Aunt_ Primrose, or even just Primrose, or something of the sort. You are to feel right at home here. All of you," she finished, addressing everyone.

The Snow Queen smiled and her tone changed from regal formality to easy relaxation. "Yes, Aunt Primrose."

"That's better." The queen sighed suddenly and grabbed her niece up into a huge embrace. "It's been so long since I've seen you, and you were only just a little girl then. You've grown up so much." She then turned to Anna. "Both of you. Anna, you were such an adorable baby!"

The princess giggled. "It's nice to see you, too, Aunty Rose."

Primrose laughed. "Or you can call me that, too."

"Girls." King Benjamin enfolded to two sisters in a bear-like hug. They squeezed equally as tightly.

"And Kristoff! Nathan! Kaara! Oh, there are so many of you I haven't met yet!" his wife exclaimed. "I'll have to learn more about you all at lunch. Speaking of which, shall we get going, then?"

Everyone nodded, smiling, and they all ventured out of the throne room and to the dining room of the castle of Corona.

Soon they were all settled in very comfortable, if not a little high, seats at the long dining room table. Unlike at Arendelle, there were two seats at the head of the table, one for the king and one for the queen. Rapunzel took a seat next to her mother with Eugene on her left, while Elsa sat across from her, next to the king and Nathan. Beside Nathan sat Kristoff, and then Anna. Next to Rapunzel was Kaara, with Mary and Nya next. They would not be sitting at a children's table, which was often custom for things like these. The two snowpeople, having obviously come even though they were, well, snowpeople and couldn't actually eat, were next after Anna. And Maximus and Sven had insisted upon being in the room as well, and stood, chatting away behind Kristoff, where the reindeer got the occasional carrot from his best friend. Pascal was ever-present on Rapunzel's shoulder. And between the princess and prince consort was a set of highchairs for the babies.

"So, Elsa, dear, how do you like being queen?" Primrose inquired of her niece, once the food (soup, lemonade, sandwiches, fruit, vegetables, and milk) had been served.

Elsa looked up from her food in surprise at the question. "Umm… things are going well in Arendelle, if that's what you mean. Being queen is fine, I suppose." Then she sighed. "Actually, sometimes the dignitaries from other kingdoms can be a real pain. Especially King Charles of the Southern Isles and the Duke of Weselton—"

"Weaseltown," Anna interrupted insistently.

Her sister gave her a reproving look before smirking and letting in. "Fine, Weaseltown. Those two won't give me a rest. And Arendelle isn't even trading partners with either of them anymore!"

Queen Primrose smiled sympathetically. "I know, dear. Benjamin has always had trouble with those two."

"But at least I have you, Rose, to help me out in tight spaces with them." The king put his hands on his wife's.

Primrose looked up at him lovingly. "Always." Then she turned back to Elsa. "But you don't have anyone to help you, Elsa. Not like us, anyway. You need to find someone."

"I have Anna!" Elsa announced in a way that had both indignation and formality and even a little shock.

Her aunt looked at her fondly, shaking her head a little. "Oh, Elsa, that's not what I meant. Dear, what I'm saying is that you should find someone to rule beside you, not as a princess. I mean you need a king."

At this, both Elsa and Nathan blushed instantly. Primrose laughed good-naturedly. "Oh, in due time you'll realize just who the right person is. Don't worry."

She then lowered her green eyes down to her food and stayed there in silence for a while, leaving Elsa to ponder on her aunt's words.

_Maybe she's right…. Arendelle _does_ need a king. But isn't a queen good enough? For now, maybe, but what if something happens and just one ruler is not enough? And what if something happens to _me_? Of course, there's Anna. And Kristoff. But still, I wonder…._

But she was getting ahead of herself. In order for anyone to become king of Arendelle, she would either have to die, leaving Anna and Kristoff as rulers (which was not something she wanted—for both obvious reasons) or marry someone. Marriage? No. She was not ready for that yet.

But she still had time. And there was Nathan. Elsa had thought about him a lot. Would he be a good king? He seemed… well, he did seem like he could be a good enough ruler, by what Elsa had learned about him. Ugh, why were these things so difficult?

"Hey, Elsa, could you please pass the butter?" Kaara's voice broke through her thoughts. Why did she keep doing that?

"Sure," the Snow Queen replied airily, and handed the plate of thick, white spread to her friend.

"Thanks." Kaara smiled at her.

Elsa shook her head to clear it. "You're welcome." Then she turned down to her food. She saw some berries there, and for some reason, the blueberries in the pile of fruit made her think of Nathan. Those dreamy blue eyes….

_Ahh, Nathan, if only you knew how much I care about you._

* * *

"So how has everyone's day been?" Primrose asked the group at large.

"Good," they all replied simultaneously—and also maybe a little too quickly.

"Has anything, uh… _interesting_ happened?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Postive?" The Queen of Corona raised her eyebrows.

A mix of 'yeses' and 'nos' could be heard throughout the dining room. The king and queen exchanged looks of amusement.

"Would you like to tell us anything important?" King Benjamin asked.

"We played Spinach!" Nya exclaimed happily.

"Oh, really? That sounds like fun," Primrose said. "Anything else?"

Rapunzel muttered something that sounded like, 'I bead some fun ith I pears'.

"What?" Primrose's expression turned to one of confusion.

Her daughter took a deep breath and announced, "I healed someone with my powers."

The queen looked shocked, while her husband seemed like he had been expecting something like this. "What? But didn't we agree that it was too dangerous?"

"Yes! We did! But this young woman had just been bit in the leg, and it was really deep and horrible-looking! I didn't want it to get infected! I couldn't just leave her there to bleed to death! I'm a _princess_, Mother!"

Primrose still looked shocked. But she took a deep breath and sighed as her husband spoke.

"I knew this would happen sooner or later."

"You did?" Nya asked curiously. "Can you tell the future or something?"

The king chuckled, shaking his head. "No, I can't tell the future, or anything like that. I just had a feeling that something like this was going to happen. Rapunzel's powers being revealed."

"You won't be getting any extra guards around the palace or anything, will you?" Rapunzel asked anxiously.

King Benjamin shook his head again, cutting off his wife, who had just been about to speak. "No. I trust your judgment, Rapunzel. I think you will be alright. Besides, you have Eugene with you. He'll make sure my baby won't get kidnapped by anyone, right, Rider?"

Eugene smiled at the use of his fake name. "No problem, Father."

The king chuckled again. "No problem, indeed."

"Oh, also, Mother," Rapunzel said. "Um, I told these guys about Lily."

"You did?"

"Yes, Mother. They're family. They wouldn't—and won't—give her away."

Once again, the queen looked like she was about to argue, but once again, the king held her back. "Let her be, Primrose. She can make her own decisions now. Rapunzel's not a little girl anymore."

"That's what I was afraid of." His wife leaned into her husband, sighing.

Everyone else turned back to their food, and for the rest of the meal, all was very quiet.

* * *

It was twilight, and the sun was setting, preparing for its sleep under the horizon. A young boy of about twelve ran out of his family's worn wooden house, taking a deep breath of the fresh air, relishing in the cool breeze flying past him.

The boy named Peter was going back to the meadows to check on the sheep in the pen where they were kept. Soon, he arrived there. It was very warm outside, and, seeing the light slowly fading away, Peter shivered, suddenly feeling a little bit scared. It was actually starting to feel a little bit creepy out here, with barely any light left. But he ventured onward, preparing to do the task that he probably would not have been doing had he had not been punished with extra chores—and also a slap on the bottom by his mother.

Peter was about to open the gate when suddenly, a noise that sent shivers down his spine reached his ears. It was a growl, and it sounded close. He looked over his shoulder, seeing only blackness in the forest beyond, and consoled himself slightly by flexing his muscles, thinking that he would be able to fight it off with his bare hands if he had to. Peter then proceeded to start opening the gate again, but stopped.

The growls could be heard from right behind him. He turned around slowly and to his complete and utter terror saw a huge, dog-like creature. Except it wasn't a dog.

It was a wolf.

"HELP!" Peter yelled out. "A WOLF! A REAL ONE! HELP ME! HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!"

But no one came. They heard him, but didn't believe him. Suddenly, Peter felt extremely guilty at what he had done earlier that day and regretted ever even thinking about his prank. But it was too late to undo his actions now.

Especially because right at that moment, when fear, horror, and terror engulfed Peter to its fullest extent, the wolf, with its black eyes gleaming and pointed teeth bared, pounced.


	4. Chapter 4: Visiting the Snuggly Duckling

**A/N: Sorry 'bout the lengthy wait. They'll definitely be longer than those in Ice Meets Fire—but I'll make it up to you in better chapters. :) Thanks to all those who have reviewed and 'favorited' so far! Oh, and in response to evbro5555's review, I actually have no idea who Bigby is or what Fables/The Wolf Among Us is. Just so you know. :P So… apparently you DON'T know who he is. Anyway, hope you like this next chapter! It has the pub thugs in it from the Snuggly Duckling… as you can see in the title. :P Enjoy!**

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR**

**A VISIT TO THE SNUGGLY DUCKLING**

_Earlier that day…._

It was right after lunch had concluded that Rapunzel announced something to the others. For the rest of the day, she would show them around the kingdom of Corona (with Eugene insisting that he would help her). They had all happily ventured out of the castle, leaving the king and queen to attend to 'royal affairs', as Rapunzel's mother had called it, and the Corona princess was now listing aloud what they were going to do for the next several hours. She was very bubbly with happiness at the moment; maybe even more so than before.

"Okay, so first we can take a look around the shops, and then I'll show you some of our friends. And maybe if we have time before we need to head back for dinner, we'll be able to visit the Snuggly Duckling! Actually, we might just eat dinner there—maybe—" Rapunzel started rapidly, feeling very excited.

Nathan raised his hand from somewhere in the crowd of people. "Uh, Rapunzel, what's the 'Snuggly Duckling'?"

"Oh, my gosh!" the princess exclaimed. "Haven't I told you? It's this pub in the forest. Eugene and I went there a _long_ time ago, and we made really good friends with the guys there. They're like family now." She sighed happily, slowing down a little (she had been skipping quite enthusiastically up until then).

"Oh, goody!" Anna said. She was just as excited as her cousin at the prospect of such… well, fun things happening. Not like she was two. But she did have that child-like spirit around her—which was the same with Rapunzel. Their gladness and craziness was simply contagious, and the others were starting to feel that way as well.

They all started talking excitedly to one another, yet it seemed like no one could understand a word the other person was saying. But nobody cared. For a little while, they stood as a fairly large group in the middle of the town square, conversing loudly with each other and attracting quite a lot of stares and looks from the people in the village going about their day-to-day lives. Finally, after having yelled out several times already to no chance of being heard, Kaara proceeded to put two fingers to her mouth and give a shrill whistle. Everyone turned to her immediately with attentive looks on their faces. She then yelled out something in a somewhat exasperated voice to the Corona princess.

"Rapunzel! Where are we going first?"

"Oh, yeah! This way, everyone!" And with that, Rapunzel lead the extremely large group of friends in the direction of the bakery. They spent a pleasant time there, as the Corona couple knew the baker and his wife (who was unfortunately not around at the moment). He talked with them in between sales, and once complained with a deep, goodhearted laugh that his bread seemed to keep disappearing every time he set it on the window to cool. He said he had concluded that the boys from a house nearby had probably taken it, though they did leave a strange trace of what looked like saliva that smelled positively awful. But he didn't mind, as enough people came by and bought the rest of his food and he had plenty of money to spare.

"I even have enough to donate to the orphanage sometimes. I also give them extra bread and sometimes the occasional little cake, but only on very rare occasions. Once, my brother decided to give them his favorite book of all, one that inspired adventure in him. That was many years ago, though. As a matter of fact, he's been missing for quite a while now. But he always was one looking for an adventure, and he even talked about leaving this place a while back." He chuckled sadly. "Anyway, you'd better get going. An old man like me shouldn't be keeping you for long. Oh, and here's some cakes for the little ones."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Kaara said quietly, but it seemed that the man before her had not heard her.

While the baker had been speaking, he had gathered some pastries up in a brown paper bag. He held it out to Nya, who took it shyly before opening it up. She closed her eyes as she breathed in the sweet scent. However, as the little girl started to reach in and pull one out, her older sister put her hand on Nya's gently.

"Nya, you can't just take things! Especially now that you're a princess!" Mary whispered.

"Okay." The little girl closed the bag back up regretfully and held it out to the baker. "Here."

He laughed again, making them all feel very nice inside. "No, my dear princess. Take them. I have plenty."

And after a little more protesting and then several insistent 'thank yous', the group was on their way out of the shop. For the next few hours they visited Rapunzel and Eugene's friends from the other shops around the village. After the princess announced that soon they would be meeting the thugs from the Snuggly Duckling, however, Eugene said something.

"What about the orphanage? Shouldn't we go visit those kids there?"

His wife's face lit up at the idea. "Yes! Of course! Okay, then, we'll go there next. The thugs can wait!"

And with that, she led them a little farther on (with her back to where she was originally headed), and to the Corona orphanage. When they arrived there, the head person greeted them warmly and as if she had known them all her life, even though Rapunzel and Eugene had barely visited there, and the people from Arendelle, not at all (for obvious reasons). She smiled broadly and tickled Lily and Benjamin's feet a little before noticing the snowpeople. She shrieked and had the reaction people usually had around talking, walking, and literally living snowmen and snowladies. But she soon got over it and brought them inside the orphanage.

It was not much different from the Arendelle one, except that the walls were perhaps a little less shabby, but just as narrow. There was a little courtyard out back, and a dining room, but that was smaller than the one in Arendelle. There were also not as many children here.

The visit with them brought beams of joy and excitement from the children. Rarely had so many people ever come there to meet them in person instead of just giving donations, and they were more than happy about it. They were ecstatic.

Throughout the time they were there, Mary and Nya shyly talked with the other children. The two sisters told them of how they had once been in an orphanage similar to this one, and of how, one day, the royal family of their kingdom had visited them. And then they had been adopted into that very same royal family, now as sisters to the queen and princess, and new princesses themselves.

Meanwhile, Eugene, Kristoff, and Nathan were able to bring laughter to others. Eugene told the story of how he died and some of the tales he remembered from his favorite book. Kristoff made weird faces to entertain the little ones (with the ex-thief 'helping' out and doing his signature 'smolder'). Nathan taught them a few games he had learned from the other soldiers when he had spent his brief time training to be one of them. All of the children had so much fun with them—perhaps more than they had had in a long time.

And nearly everyone could relate to the situation that had been brought upon these children; most of the royal family were orphans. Even Rapunzel, as she knew what it was like to lose someone you loved—Gothel had been enough of a mother for her to feel terrible when she had fallen from that tower so many years ago. As she had said before, 'orphanism' seemed to run in their family.

After a little while, everyone started to scatter around, talking and playing with different people. Then, some of the children brought out pieces of paper that they had collected from various places and drawn on. Everyone admired the works of art, even Eugene—who had once said that only his Rapunzel's paintings and drawings could hold a place in his heart.

* * *

As a little girl showed him her own piece, the ex-thief recalled his own days in the orphanage—this very one, in fact. He thought he might have recognized some faces of those who had just been babies when he had left to start his carrier in thieving, who were now some of the oldest in the group. He wondered if any of them remembered him.

As Eugene was thinking about all of this and admiring the little girl's artwork, he noticed something nearby on the ground. With the paper still in his hand, he bent over and picked up something from underneath a broom. It was a book, and the thing he had seen was the corner of it. And it was indeed a very familiar book. An extremely familiar, heart wrenchingly familiar book.

_The Tales of Flynnagin Rider_

He gasped at the sight of it. It wasn't exactly like he had seen it before—it was much more tattered and worn and dirty. Eugene opened it to see the title page, with that picture of his hero, Flynnagin Rider. He stared at it for a few seconds, still too in awe of his finding to remember much of anything at all. He thumbed through the worn out pages until he reached the last one. He sighed.

But then the ex-thief noticed something odd that he had never noticed before throughout all of his years of simply devouring this book. There inside it and at the very end of the book was a signature.

_Owned by Eugene F_

But the signature wasn't his handwriting.

Eugene blinked, trying clear his head. He wondered how he had never noticed this before—then again, he hadn't really been interested in _this_ section of the book. But in front of him, the little girl was trying to get his attention, waving her arms.

"Hey, can I have my picture back, please?"

It was at that moment that the ex-thief realized that the girl wasn't all that little. His thoughts instantly turned to Lily, who would someday not be little, too. And so would Ben.

"Uh… yeah, here you go." Dazed, Eugene did what the girl had asked. She curtsied and went off to her friends, leaving him wondering about the book in his hands, because he _knew_ that he hadn't written his name on it.

* * *

A little while later, the royal family said goodbye to the children at the orphanage, and they were off to the Snuggly Duckling to meet with the pub thugs. The greeting with people such as Hook Hand, Big Nose, Vladimir, Attila, Shorty, Ulf, Gunther, Tor, Greno, Axel, Bruiser, Killer, Fang, etc., went well enough. Anna and Nya went right up to them with beams on their faces, while Kaara and Mary walked over to them a little more shyly, Kaara at one point nudging the younger girl on a little. Elsa smiled at them, but at a look from Shorty (the drunk thug), an expression of horror and disgust came across her face, which she tried to hide as quickly and best as she could. The men greeted them like old friends—except for Kristoff, who had always had this thing about law breakers. The non-humans were fine with them—that is, not counting the fact that Olaf and Summer turned out to be the only ones able to scare all of the thugs, who huddled in a group together the moment they set eyes on them with a collective gasp.

Vladimir had held out a frying pan to them next to Hook Hand, who was, of course, brandishing his hook, both at the front of the group. "What are those things?" the latter had said in a deep, terror-filled voice. "Rapunzel, do you need me to hook 'em for you? 'Cause I can if you want me—"

"No, no, no, no!" the princess said hurriedly, rushing forward with her arms held out in front of her. "This is Olaf, and this is Summer," she continued slowly and carefully. "They are snowpeople."

"Snowpeople?" A look of confusion came across the thugs' faces as they said the word simultaneously.

"Yeah, it's a long story."

"Hi, I'm Olaf and I like warm hugs!" the snowman exclaimed.

"Hi, I'm Summer and I like sweet kisses!" the snowlady added.

Olaf waddled forward with his hands held out in front of him. "I don't have a skull. Or bones!"

"Neither do I!" Summer added. "And I don't have a brain, but Olaf does!"

"I do?"

"Yes, you do, silly!"

"Oh, yeah, I do! I think."

"They… talk. Okay then." Hook Hand shook his head to clear it.

"That was random," one of the other thugs noted aloud.

"I must've been drinkin' _way_ too much water-beer-stuff that other _hic_ night," Shorty announced to the group at large in a wobbly, goofy-toned voice. He grinned wackily at Anna, whose expression turned to one of disgust not unlike her sister's a little while before.

She put a hand to her mouth and whispered to Rapunzel, "Is he drunk?"

"Yep," her cousin replied shortly.

"That explains _that_," Anna said.

And so, for a little while the pub thugs from the Snuggly Duckling and the royal family from Arendelle and Corona talked and laughed and had an altogether good time together. Eventually, some boys came by and pulled Mary and Nya over to hang out, with Kaara encouraging them to go on and make new friends and to come over if they needed anything. They were having fun together for a while, while the adults talked with one another, catching up on things. That is, until Nya came racing over to the group at large with a red, tear-streaked face. However, somehow, no one seemed to notice her except for Hook Hand and Vladimir.

"Go an' help her out." Hook Hand nudged his friend.

"You do it. You're the boss here." Vladimir nudged the other thug back.

"No. You're better with little kids," Hook Hand retorted.

After a bit more of arguing and even a game of 'thumb wars', with Nya still crying before them, Summer walked over and waved.

"Hi."

"Ah!" Both thugs fell backwards in shock, with Vladimir on top of Hook Hand.

"And for that, you get to help 'er out," the latter stated in a muffled voice, waving his hook out from underneath the larger thug.

Vladimir finally gave in and nervously walked forward and said in an equally unsure voice, "Umm… are you alright?"

Nya looked up at the man towering over her. "N-n-no," she stuttered. And then she proceeded to break down in even louder and more insistent sobs. "A b-boy over th-there just said my hair looks stupid! And that m-my white streak is ugly!"

"Oh…." Vladimir suddenly noticed the much lighter section of hair on the little girl's mostly brown head. He looked helplessly at Hook Hand, who raised his eyebrows. "Uh…." Suddenly realizing what had to be done, he straightened up and took the little girl's tiny hand in his, with his expression now one of determination. "Let's go give that boy a piece of my mind. Where is 'e?"

"Over here." Nya pulled Vladimir over to a group of boys around the age of thirteen or so, which immediately infuriated the huge thug. They were laughing and talking about something that was undoubtedly Nya. Mary was with them and seemed to have not noticed anything. For some reason, she was conversing with one of the boys and somehow had not even noticed the fact that her little sister had gone. She still didn't notice her come back during this encounter.

"Him." Nya pointed at the meanest looking boy.

Vladimir stepped forward with Nya behind him and glared at the boy, whose attention was then averted from his friends and turned to the humongous man towering above him.

"Uh… hi," he said nervously. He seemed to sense that this man did not like him.

"Why did you mess with this girl?" Vladimir leaned over him, casting his enormous shadow across the now cowering boy.

"Uh…."

"If you _ever_ do that again…. I promise to personally pull your nose off and stick it on the wall with your own snot!"

"I'm sorry! Please don't break my nose!" The boy put his hands over the said facial feature.

"Do you _promise_ not to _ever_ do that again, to anyone and everyone?!"

"Yes!"

"Will you make the unbreakable vow?" Nya put in.

"What? Yes! Just please don't take off my nose!"

"All right. Just stay away from this girl!" Vladimir finished somewhat aggressively (he was a thug, after all). He then proceeded to brush invisible and inexistent dust off of his huge hand, and then turned around, taking Nya's hand in his. They ventured back to where their friends were, leaving a dazed thirteen-year-old boy behind and completely forgetting about Mary. Once they were inside, he reached into his pocket and retrieved a certain special something and held it out to the little girl.

"Nya, as a token of our friendship, will you take this ceramic unicorn?" he asked, bending down to look her straight in the eye.

She squealed and gladly accepted the gift. "Yes! Thank you _so much_! I _love_ unicorns!"

Vladimir smiled. "So do I. So do I."

* * *

"So wha's yer favorite color?"

Nathan looked it surprise at the thug before him—Shorty, who was exactly as his name described him (short), with only a white cloth worn around his waist as underwear—or something. Nathan almost gagged at the sight of it for some reason.

"Excuse me?" he said.

"So wha's yer _hic_ favorite col—animal?" Shorty asked.

"Um… an owl, I guess?" Nathan said uncertainly.

"Great! I prefer women, myself…."

"_What_?" Nathan shook his head. This guy was not right in _his_ head—or maybe he had just had too much alcohol lately.

"I said…." But before he could finish his sentence, Shorty had fallen asleep, right then and there, and fallen flat on his face onto the stone ground before him.

"Uh…." Nathan looked around uncertainly. Somewhere in the background, he thought he heard someone say, "Mine's a reindeer!" One of the thugs, who for some reason had mittens on his hand and a helmet or mask of some sort on his head, noticing his dilemma, rushed over and proceeded to pick Shorty up and put him on his back.

"He does that all the time. Sorry 'bout that," he said in a voice muffled by the mask.

"That's okay…." Nathan watched as the thug (whose name he remembered to be Attila) got Pascal from Rapunzel, who was standing nearby, and then place him on Shorty's shoulder. After a long pink tongue was shot into his ear, the drunk thug woke with a start.

Nathan heard him exclaim something that sounded like, "What a light! Looks like a tall glass o' water to me, eh?" He chuckled and barfed inwardly before turned to talk to Elsa—but it looked like she was busy enough. There was a man in front of her—and suddenly, a strange feeling overcame the soldier-ice harvester-person. And he felt like hitting that man.

* * *

"Hello."

Elsa turned from her conversation with a thug called 'Bruiser' to look at a young man standing before her. He had green eyes that reminded you of marbles and magnificent golden hair and very expensive-looking blue and gray clothes.

"Yes?" she said nervously. This man seemed to positively tower over her—and his looks (which she realized to be very handsome) were quite overwhelming.

"You don't seem to be from around here. Where are you from?" the man said in an alluring tone of voice.

"I… um…." Wait. Elsa was a _queen_. Would a queen act like this in front of someone—even a complete stranger not even from her own kingdom? No, she wouldn't. She quickly regained her posture and smiled politely, even though this man, in all honesty, gave her the creeps. "I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle. I have come to visit my cousin, Princess Rapunzel, to help celebrate her birthday."

Surprise flickered on the man's face for a moment before returning to its normal—normal?—simply mysteriously and creepily handsome expression. "Well, my queen!" He bowed and gave a dashing smile up at her before standing back up. "Welcome to Corona!" He then turned to walk away, still with that grin, but looked back, saying, "If you'd like to get a drink sometime…. You'll know where to find me!"

But before Elsa could say, "I don't drink!" the man had vanished into the crowd before her. She shuddered inwardly before turning around to see Nathan right behind her with an extremely angry look on his face.

"Nate!" she exclaimed. Then, because, really, she just felt like it, she hugged Nathan. He gripped her tightly—though not _too_ tightly—which comforted her. She looked up at his eyes, which were tense and alert. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine," Nathan replied. But she knew he wasn't telling the truth.

"It's gonne be okay. I'm here," Elsa consoled, and hugged him even tighter. She pulled him out of the door to the Snuggly Duckling, and they stood by a tree together in the low light of the rapidly fading sun. And then, for a few moments in that secluded area of the woods, they kissed.

* * *

_Elsa…._

What a beautiful name. And what a beautiful girl. Nathan sighed. His feelings for Elsa were so great. He just wished that... He didn't know what he wished. But he sure was lucky to have her.

_But what about the Snow Queen herself?_

A voice entered Nathan's head. Ah, that good ol' voice, telling him what to do, what not to do, constantly arguing with him, always making him unsure of what to… well, do.

_Does she feel the same way?_

Did she? Nathan wasn't sure. He thought about life, and his possible future together with Elsa…. He wondered if she thought lowly of him, not having any sort of actual, permanent job at the moment. _At the moment…._ What if those words weren't true? What if he never found his place in the world?

With an empty hand, Nathan felt in his pocket for the thing Grand Pabbie had given him six months ago. It would bring the troll to him if Nathan just called for him. But it was a misshapen lump of white, said to shape into a real thing once he had discovered who he really was.

And suddenly, a need to impress Elsa overcame him. He realized that he needed to do something with his life, something important, something that the Snow Queen would approve of.

But his thoughts were interrupted as he heard a faint yelp in the distance. He slowly pulled away from Elsa and looked around for some sign of the person—or thing—that had made the sound.

"I'll be back in a sec'…" he muttered to her.

She looked up. "Okay," said Elsa in a trusting voice. She let go of him.

Nathan opened his ears up for any more of the sound, and a moment later, he heard it again—just a very small cry somewhere out there. He walked towards it, leaving the group behind him. After a little while, he had ventured deeper into the woods than he would have liked. And the sight before him was nothing like he had ever seen before.

* * *

Inside the pub, Rapunzel was laughing at a comment Eugene had made a moment before about chameleon soup. However, it soon stopped as a hush fell throughout the Snuggly Duckling. A man had just ran in, with people separating to let him through. He looked very familiar; that big, hulking figure could not be mistaken. It was the father of the boy who cried wolf.

A look of mixed terror and regret was on his dirty face as he exclaimed to the watching crowd, "It's Peter! He's gone! We've searched everywhere. Help! He's missing! Peter's _gone_!"


	5. Chapter 5: Missing

**A/N: Probably weren't expecting a chapter this soon, eh? What with the lengthy distances between updates so far? Anyway, thank you to all those who have reviewed so far! And in regards to a certain review, yeah, that picture for my cover is new… but it's just my profile pic… and I'll have an actual cover instead of that sometime in the near future. ANYWAYS, just want to let you guys know that despite what you all might think, I actually ADORE wolves and have absolutely no grudge against them. Hope you like this chapter and remember that if you review, you are rewarded with an ABC carrot for a job well done. (THAT WAS A JOKE! Please don't take that seriously... unless you like ABC carrots. Then again, I wouldn't be able to give one to you anyways.) Hope you like this new chapter! :D **

**DISCLAIMER: I own nothing from 'Frozen' or 'Tangled'.**

* * *

** CHAPTER FIVE**

**MISSING**

Rapunzel raced up to Peter's father. "What? That's horrible! We need to send out a search party at once! Are there any guards here? Guys, we need to help find Peter!"

"Blondie! Hold on a sec'!" Eugene grabbed her shoulder.

"What? We need to find him!" Rapunzel exclaimed.

Her husband looked her straight in the eye. "I know, but we can't just rush into things. We gotta take 'em one step at a time and slow down."

"I know that for a fact!" Anna shouted from somewhere in the pub.

Eugene turned to Peter's father. "When and where did you last see him?" he asked.

"I'd sent him out to check on the sheep as part of his punishment for earlier. But he wasn't back by the time he should have been. My wife and I have looked everywhere! But we can't find him!" he said anxiously, waving his arms around.

"Then we need to send out a search party at once," Eugene said decisively, with Rapunzel muttering behind him, "That's what _I_ said…."

And with that, he started ordering the pub thugs to separate in different places to help start searching; that is, until Rapunzel took over and continued doing that for herself. After the thugs had all gone from the Snuggly Duckling, the royal family left the empty pub as well and took a swift trip to the castle. Once they had arrived, Rapunzel hurriedly told her parents of what had happened. They had part of the royal guard go and join the thugs in the search. It just went to show what type of people they were.

But all throughout the confusion and really very large amount of people in the said family, they hadn't noticed that Elsa, Nathan, and Mary weren't with them.

* * *

In the somewhat secluded area of the forest where Nathan had left her for some mysterious reason, Elsa stood, waiting for his return. A few minutes ago, she had heard what sounded like someone rush past her and was on the point of following the person when she decided against it and to just stay there in case Nathan came back soon. However, it was getting quite dark, and he had been gone for what seemed like a while. She had just decided to start going in the direction she thought he had one in when she heard the rustling of leaves and grunts of pain nearby.

"Nathan?" Elsa said uncertainly. "Nate, is that you?"

"Yeah…" groaned the person in a very familiar man's voice. The outline of a person appeared in front of her and she rushed forward and hugged him.

"Nate! Where have you been? You've been gone for a long time," said Elsa in a concerned tone of voice.

"Places…" muttered the man before her in reply. He breathed in sharply a moment later with a pained gasp.

"Are you all right?" Elsa asked. "Let's get you somewhere safe. I don't like being out in the woods or anywhere at night like this, alone."

"What about your ice castle I've heard so much about?" Nathan tried to laugh, but it came out only as a pained grunt.

Elsa shook her head, even though you couldn't see it when it was this dark. "Let's go somewhere lighter. You sound like you've been hurt."

"Okay."

With that, they went back to the Snuggly Duckling. Nathan seemed to be struggling to walk properly, and though he was trying not to show it, Elsa could tell something wasn't right. However, when they reached the door to the lopsided pub, they saw that it was hanging wide open and literally no one was inside, though thankfully a candle inside was still lit.

"Where is everyone?" Nathan wondered aloud. Then he gasped again and Elsa turned to look at him. And what she saw, she did not like.

"You _are_ hurt!" She wondered how he could have ever been able to walk this far through the forest. There was a deep gash in his leg, and though it was no longer bleeding, the brown pant cloth around it was stained with dried blood. "Oh, Nate, what in the world?"

He smiled sheepishly—or at least he _tried_ to smile. "Yeah, umm…."

"What _happened_?" Elsa asked in horror. She then conjured a block of ice and knelt down before sticking it onto Nathan's leg, and then took a cloth napkin from a nearby table, which she wrapped around the ice _and_ leg to keep them connected. The injured man before her grimaced, trying not to show his pain.

"I got… hurt."

"Well, I can see that. Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"Uh…."

"I can see that you aren't. Fine. But we need to get you to Rapunzel!" Elsa exclaimed.

"No," Nathan said shortly. "I'm fine. Seriously, I am. It isn't as bad as you might think."

"Why are you always surprising me?" Elsa asked exasperatedly.

"No idea." Nathan smirked. Just at that moment, however, a flash of black crossed his sea-blue eyes. But a split second later, they had turned back to their normal color, and he had pulled her up closer to him and put his lips on hers.

For a moment, all of the Snow Queen's worries were simply washed away. But then that moment had to end, because his leg was still hurt. She pulled away from him and said stubbornly, "You are _hurt_!"

"Thought I already knew that."

"Oh, Nate. What am I going to do with you?"

"Check out my leg again. Doesn't hurt nearly as badly. Maybe it was your magical ice."

Elsa shook her head, but did as he suggested. She was surprised to see that the wound on Nathan's leg seemed to have gotten better already. It didn't look quite as deep, and the blood around it wasn't quite as red as before. That was… weird.

"Can I just let it heal on its own?" Nathan inquired.

Elsa sighed. He sure was being more stubborn than usual—or maybe she was just seeing this side of him. "Fine. But if it looks like it's getting infected or anything, you need to tell me _immediately_ and then we'll get Rapunzel to help. So don't blame me for your extra pain."

"Pain is a blessing."

The Snow Queen raised her eyebrows.

"Just kidding," Nathan said reassuringly. Elsa shook her head (again) and stood up (also again).

"I'm still gonna put that ice back on it."

"Sure thing, my queen."

Elsa couldn't help but smile as she did exactly that.

* * *

"Shouldn't we be heading back now? The others will be looking for us."

"Nah. They can survive a little while longer without us."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Mary and one of the boys that had been hanging out in the Snuggly Duckling together had ventured a little bit beyond the pub, and though they didn't know it, it was nearby where Elsa and Nathan were. They had been talking together and climbing trees and staying a good enough distance away from each other (if that makes any sense). However, it was now quite dark, and Mary was getting a little uneasy out there.

"But it's really late," she said uncertainly. She could hardly see the boy's outline in front of her. Earlier in the Snuggly Duckling, she had been talking with him and his friends, and realized just how good they all looked. Mary had never fully appreciated the looks of thirteen-year-old boys. This one (whose name she had since learned to be Andrew) was especially… well, _cute_, with wavy, reddish-brown hair and dark brown eyes.

"I know. You know what, you're probably right." Andrew leapt down from the tree he had been standing in. "Let's get going."

"Thank goodness." Mary breathed a sigh of relief. An eleven-year-old girl (she had turned eleven a few months ago) hanging out with a thirteen-year-old boy (practically alone), was… she couldn't think of a word to describe it. Interesting. Interesting?

"Come on." Andrew took her hand and lead through the gathering darkness to the Snuggly Duckling.

However, before they had even taken a few steps, they heard growling coming from behind them. They turned around slowly and to their horror saw the figure of a terrifying creature. A wolf. Though they could barely see the outline of the gray animal, its eyes stood out clearly against the darkness around them. But they weren't light at all. Instead, they were literally the opposite. They were a million times blacker than anything Mary and Andrew had ever seen before, a million times blacker than this night, now filled with trees, all blocking the faint light from the stars and moon above them.

"Andrew…" Mary said with a voice filled to the brim with uncertainty, terror, and horror.

"RUN!" he shouted, and with that, he turned around in the opposite direction, and, letting go of the girl's smaller hand, he raced off. She followed immediately after him as the wolf gave a howl behind them right before it began chasing them both. They stumbled over fallen tree trunks and through bushes and over sticks and plants littering the forest floor, barely able to see where they were going. They could hear the wolf's panting and could almost smell its rancid, horrid breath right behind. And they both knew that if they stopped or hesitated or even slowed down for a fraction of a second, it would catch up to them, and that would be the end.

It seemed like they were running for hours. Mary's heart was racing and she felt she had never run nearly as fast as this in her entire life. She immediately regretted ever even considering coming out here with Andrew, especially this late at night, even though he did seem like a nice boy. Thoughts whirled throughout her head as she ran, and soon she realized that she was starting to get tired. Behind them, the panting of a certain terrifying creature was getting louder. Her heart seemed to stop as she realized how close the wolf was.

"Andrew!" Mary gasped, stumbling over a branch on the ground.

"What?" he panted in reply.

"I don't think I can do this much longer!"

"Then go on without me! I'll let it get to me and you can tell the world my story!" Andrew said; but he was still running, just in case Mary refused. "You're younger than me! You have a life to live!"

"_What_?!" she exclaimed. "Seriously, what are we gonna do?!"

"What I said. Go on without me. Please. Just do it!"

And before Mary could protest, Andrew had stopped in his tracks abruptly. She stopped, too, a little bit ahead of him. Turning around with tears filling her eyes, she saw the wolf hesitate for the space of a heartbeat. And then it ran right at Andrew and she screamed.

* * *

"What was that?" Elsa jerked her head around abruptly as she heard a shrill sound in the distance.

"I don't know," Nathan replied uncertainly. He stood up from where he had been sitting a moment before and looked towards the door, which they had closed behind them when they had gone inside.

"It sounds like someone needs help," Elsa said urgently.

"I dunno. It's getting pretty dark outside. We should probably get back to the others. I'm not even sure what that was."

"I guess so…." Elsa went towards the door with Nathan following behind her. "Let's go, then."

Luckily, there was still a horse left behind from the others (they had ridden to the pub on horses, and in Kristoff's case, a reindeer), and the two climbed up onto it together and took off down the path to the village. They brought a lantern with them, which had been left behind in the pub. A little while later, they could see the distant lights of Corona, and soon, they were in the actual town.

Around them, however, they did not see what they had expected to. Instead of just a few people roaming around for no particular reason in the darkness that had fallen, men, women, and even children were rushing around from place to place, anxious and obviously worried about something. Elsa slipped off of the horse, Nathan following in suit, and then tapped on one of the men's shoulder, who turned around.

"What's going on here?" she asked.

"A boy from town has gone missing, and the royal family's making a very large impression that he must be found," the man replied in a reedy voice.

"Oh, dear." Elsa turned back to Nathan as the man went away. "_We_ are part of the royal family. Or at least, _I_ am," she added, seeing the look on his face.

"Yeah. We'd better go and find them," Nathan decided.

"Is your leg going to be okay?" Elsa asked concernedly.

"It's fine." Nathan waved her off. "Let's just go find the others."

"Yes. We need to find out _exactly_ what's going on—as soon as possible."

* * *

"Okay, so the boys and I will go with the search party," Rapunzel said to the rest of the royal family.

"Hold up, Blondie," Eugene said. "You've gotta stay here and take care of the twins."

"Wait a sec…." Anna looked around at everyone, standing up on her toes and counting out heads. "I don't see Elsa or Nathan. Or Mary, too, for that matter!"

"Oh, no," Rapunzel said worriedly. "Where could they be? It's getting really dark out. Did anyone see them leave the Snuggly Duckling with us?"

The group at large all shook their heads. However, a moment later, Kaara stopped and said in a somewhat hopeful tone of voice, "I saw Mary go outside with one of those boys a little while before Peter's dad came."

And angry look came across Nya's face. "He must have been bullying her! She wouldn't have gone out there by 'erself! She shouldn't trust those boys!" The little girl started running away, presumably in the direction of where she thought the Snuggly Duckling was, with a determined and furious look on her face.

However, just as she was about to make her escapade, Kristoff grabbed her and held onto her firmly. "Hold on, Nya. Kaara's trying to say something."

Indeed, his younger sister was. She smiled briefly at the ice harvester and said, "Nya, it looked like Mary was going by her free will. She was a little nervous, but I don't think the boy she was with was forcing her to go. He seemed nice enough, too. Not like that other one."

"How'd you know about that?"

"Vladimir told me."

"Oh." Nya stopped trying to get out of Kristoff's hold on her and quite suddenly, she flopped dramatically, as though all of the muscles and bones in her body had vanished. It was a good thing the ice harvester was holding her, because if he hadn't, she would have most likely fallen to the ground and hit her head. She then started crying, and said in a throbbing voice, "Mary's m-missing! What are we gonna d-do?"

"Don't worry, Nya." Kristoff held her higher and gave her a big bear hug. "We'll find her, don't you worry."

"And we also need to find _my_ sister," Anna said firmly. Then a far-away look came onto her face as she added, "_Our_ sister."

"And Nathan, too," Rapunzel put in.

"Okay, you know what, let's stop this blabbering and get on with it! We get that we need to find them! So let's go and… well, find them!" Eugene exclaimed in an exasperated voice.

But there was no need to even take a single step, because right at that moment, Elsa and Nathan walked over to them.

"There you are!" Anna exclaimed. She ran over to her sister and hugged her.

"But where's Mary?" Nya asked as tears started to fill her eyes once more. She was only five, after all—almost six, but that wasn't the point.

"You don't have her with you?" Elsa said accusingly.

"No! We don't know where _anyone_ is, now, actually!" Anna exclaimed, starting to get angry now.

"I'm still here!" Summer said, pointing at herself with her stubby stick arms. "But I don't know where Olaf is."

"I'm right here!" the said snowman confirmed, coming up from behind her.

"Oh, that's right," the snowlady said.

"Uh, Summer, I dunno if you noticed, but you have a fork on your butt," Olaf announced.

Summer turned around, trying to see. Indeed, there was a fork on her behind. But she still couldn't see it. She turned around and around multiple times until she forgot completely about it and just remembered her new game. She started giggling like crazy until Olaf stopped her with a dead serious expression on his face.

"What?"

"On your butt."

"What?" Summer repeated.

"The fork."

"What fork?"

"_This_ fork." Kristoff leaned over and pulled the said utensil off of her snowy bottom.

"That'sa fork? I could've sworn it was a dinglehopper," Summer commented.

"What?" Kristoff asked.

"Why does your hair always look like yellow snow?" the snowlady asked suddenly.

"What?" repeated the ice harvester.

"I mean, it's always that golden-yellow color you find in the snow every time somebody—"

"Okay, Summer, that's enough of that," Kristoff said, putting a hand over her mouth to stop her from continuing. "But again, what?"

"Never mind that, we've kind of got another problem here! _Mary_! _And_ Peter!" Eugene intervened.

"Okay, what are we gonna do about 'em, then?" Anna asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Since you seem so smart."

"Well, I don't know; that's why I'm asking you!"

"Why are you asking _me_? There are _plenty_ of other people in this general area, as you can see, who you could ask! Or _can_ you?" Anna leaned towards the ex-thief and raised an eyebrow, opening one eye wide to make a very creepy expression.

"I dunno! You said—"

"Guys!" Rapunzel put her hands out between the two of them, fortunately stopping a full-scale argument from breaking out. "None of this is helping! Okay, how about this: Eugene, Kristoff, and Nathan will go help out with the search for Peter. Anna and Kaara can go, too, and Elsa and I will stay here with Nya, Lily, Benjamin, and the snowpeople. Maximus and Sven should join the guys in the search, too. Agreed?"

Everyone did. Except for Elsa.

"I'll go instead of Nathan," she said decisively.

Rapunzel raised her eyebrows. "How come?" she asked.

"Because I want to. Nathan can help you with the twins. He's never done anything like that before."

"Actually, I—"

"No buts. Let's get going, guys." And with that, Elsa (who had, by picking up bits and pieces from what everyone was saying about what had happened, figured out pretty much… well, what had happened) took off. Eugene shrugged and followed after her, with everyone else who was to be joining the search following in suit. Rapunzel exchanged looks with Nathan before lifting Benjamin up in a tighter grip (he was in her arms at the time), and handed Lily to him.

"Come on. Let's head over to the castle. This might take a while."


	6. Chapter 6: Into the Woods

**A/N: Hi, again! Thanks for everyone's support! All the reviews, favorites, and follows so far…. YOU'RE AWESOME! Please enjoy this next chapter! :D Oh, by the way... you know what I own.**

**-MagicFireTiger**

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX**

**INTO THE WOODS**

Rapunzel and Nathan left the now slowly thinning crowd behind them, with the twins, snowpeople, Nya, and Pascal in tow, and started walking in the direction of the castle. However, they were intercepted as a young man stepped in front of them. Though Rapunzel didn't recognize the tall, blue-and-gray clad figure, Nathan did. But she did get the same uneasy feeling her cousin had gotten when she first laid eyes on him.

"Princess Rapunzel. Could you please tell me what is going on here?" the man asked, his glassy green eyes boring into Rapunzel's emerald ones.

"Um… yes." She hitched up Benjamin in her arms and stroked his soft brown hair as she continued, "We're sending out search parties to find a missing boy. Do you think you could help us?"

The man bowed, and then lifted his head back up, flashing a dazzling smile. "But of course, Princess. Where shall I start?" He straightened back up and his expression turned to one of seriousness.

"Well, I just sent part of my family to the woods… at least, I _think_ that's where they are," Rapunzel replied. "You can go join them, if you want. My husband, Eugene, is collecting a search party. The thugs from the Snuggly Duckling are with them." Then she hesitated. "Of course, you don't have to help with the search at all if you don't want to."

"But it's no trouble. I would be honored." The man grinned again before turning around in the direction of the forest bordering the main area in Corona. "I'll go join your friends." He started walking away before stopping and facing Rapunzel and Nathan again. "Princess, if you don't mind my asking, would the Queen of Arendelle happen to be part of your family?"

"Yes, she's my cousin, actually," Rapunzel answered. "Why?"

"Just wondering." The man then nodded his head and went away towards the forest.

Nya let go of Rapunzel's skirts, making her realize that she had been holding onto them during her encounter with that man. "I don't like him," she said, her hazel eyes staring into the young woman's.

Rapunzel shook her head to clear it, looking down at the little girl. "Yeah. I know. Okay, then, now that that's out of the way, let's head back to the castle."

Nathan nodded and followed after the Corona princess, wondering how he could have ever been able to hold in his fury at the man for this long. And then he realized that he had just let a complete stranger go chase after Elsa. _Elsa_. _His_ Elsa.

Suddenly, an urge came over him that told him to run after that man. He stepped forward, but stopped as Rapunzel asked, "What are you doing?"

"That guy…."

"Elsa will be fine." Rapunzel seemed to know what he was thinking. Her green eyes bore into Nathan's deep blue ones. "It's okay. I need you to help me out with these guys. Please?"

Nathan sighed. "Fine," he relented finally, wondering if he would end up regretting this.

* * *

As the man raced through the forest of people, a thought came to his mind. It made him smirk, his absolutely perfect facial features lighting up with anticipation and hope.

_Soon, everything will be perfect._

* * *

"Okay, we'd better split up into groups of at least two. These woods can be dangerous at night, so we'll need to be on our guard. Especially right now. People have been telling me about strange things going on around here lately, so be careful, okay?" Eugene declared to the people around him, as, without even saying so, he had taken charge of the search. People from the village and the Snuggly Duckling had joined him and the rest of the royal family, as word seemed to spread quickly about things like these in Corona and practically all of the citizens were willing to help find Peter.

He had actually already sent off everyone except for the royal family, and was currently figuring out what they would be doing. Since they had learned from Peter's father that he had heard him crying wolf a little bit before he realized that his son was missing, but just ignored it as that was what he had been doing so often today, the people searching had been put on their guard. Eugene had had weapons collected from the Snuggly Duckling earlier, including some swords and a bit of armor and such, but mostly frying pans. Yeah (it was a restaurant of sorts, after all).

"Who'll go with who?" Kaara inquired from somewhere in the midst of the people, who had stopped by the edge of the forest to discuss everything.

"I'm getting to that," Eugene said in a slightly irritated tone of voice. "Let's see… Kristoff and Kaara can go together with Sven, I guess Maximus and I will go with Anna to keep a sharp eye on her—"

"Hey!" the said princess interrupted indignantly.

"And that leaves Elsa," Eugene finished, giving Anna a hard look.

"I'll go with her." A man appeared beside the group.

"And you might be…?" Eugene asked.

"Hunter," the man said. "Hunter Jules. I'm from Corona, but you might not see me as often as other people. I travel a lot." He then turned to Elsa. "As a matter of fact, I met Queen Elsa of Arendelle earlier today in the Snuggly Duckling. I wish to help with your search for this lost boy Princess Rapunzel told me about; I could accompany Elsa, if possible. That is, unless you don't want me to." He flashed a dazzling smile at the said queen.

"Elsa?" Eugene said in a questioning tone of voice.

The Snow Queen stood up just a little taller and turned to Hunter. "That would be fine. Shall we be going, then?"

"Yes, Milady, we shall." The man smiled again before turning around and starting to go into the forest.

Elsa began to follow after him, until Eugene put a hand on her shoulder.

"You sure you'll be okay?" he asked concernedly.

Elsa nodded. "I can handle myself. By the way, why are you so protective over me all of a sudden?"

"Just doing my job." Eugene grinned at her before patting her on the back. "Meet us back here if you find anything—or any_one_, for that matter. And if you _don't_ find anything before sunrise—meet us back here anyway. You hear that, guys?" he continued, addressing the others. "If you find something important, meet back here. But just meet back here by sunrise anyway, even if… yeah. Kay, Elsa?" He turned back to where the Snow Queen was before, but she had disappeared into the forest already.

"Oh-kay, then," the ex-thief said uncertainly, scratching the back of his neck, before returning to the task at hand.

"Come on, Anna, let's go."

* * *

"Hunter?" Elsa said into the darkness of the forest. She suddenly realized she didn't have a lantern with her. "Hmm…." After a moment of contemplating, she decided that she might be able to make a lantern-shaped block of ice with enough of a glow to show her around; her castle had given off a fairly strong one before, after all. A second later, in her hands she held one, except it wasn't glowing like she had expected it to. _Maybe if I just…._

"Elsa, I'm over here," called a voice. The Snow Queen looked around and saw the face of Hunter, lit up by a burning match. "Need some light?"

"Yes, but we don't have anything to put it in," she replied. Then, looking down at her cold creation, she realized that this man might not quite know that she had ice powers. _Whoops_.

"What about that lantern you've got over there?" Hunter suggested. "I've heard that your ice won't melt with natural fire, Snow Queen. We could try and test that theory."

"You… you know about…."

Hunter laughed. "Everyone knows about you, Elsa. Come on, give it a try." And with that, he stepped forward, and, after procuring a candle from his pocket, he set it aflame with his match and put it inside the lantern. Elsa looked up at him with mixed feelings in her stomach, because now the uneasiness she had been feeling around him had started to wear off. _What in the world…?_

"Now we can get going. We've gotta find that boy," the man before her said, and held out his hands to show that Elsa could pass.

Still looking at him with her mouth slightly open, she stepped in front of him and they began their search.

* * *

"So, what exactly are we looking for?" Anna asked Eugene in a smart tone of voice as they stepped through the woods, her behind him.

With a lantern in hand (actually, it was one of the ones the kingdom was supposed to use for Rapunzel's special lantern celebration—but nobody needed to know that) and a frying pan in the other, Eugene climbed over a branch on the ground. "Peter and Mary."

"Yeah, but what are we _looking_ for?"

"I said—"

But before the ex-thief could continue, he heard a whinny coming from Maximus, who was in front of him.

"What is it, Max?"

The horse turned his head around, lifting a hoof off of the ground, and pointed in the direction in front of them. He neighed.

"I think he's saying there's something up ahead of us," Eugene announced.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Of _course_ that's what he's saying. Isn't it obvious?"

"What, are you some horse whisperer now?"

"No, but—"

Maximus interrupted the princess, neighing again exasperatedly.

"Okay, let's just find out what he saw."

"Or smelled!" Eugene said, raising a finger up in the air.

"Or smelled," Anna reluctantly agreed.

The horse shook his head before neighing in a language that neither of them could understand.

"Well, what's he saying now, 'horse whisperer'?" Eugene inquired smartly.

"I have absolutely no idea," Anna replied, passing by the ex-thief by with a 'look' on her face.

Sighing in the horsiest way possible, Maximus began sniffing the ground, looking up at the two humans to show that he was now trying to tell them something.

"He's smelling something…" Eugene announced.

Maximus started growling (also in the horsiest way possible).

"It smells like a dog…" Anna declared.

The horse shook his head.

"A cat…? No… a wolf? A wolf!" the princess exclaimed. "Oh…."

"A wolf," Eugene finished solemnly.

"Uh… should we get out of here?" Anna asked.

"No. Why are you asking?" Eugene said. His eyes opened wide as the bushes rustled in front of them.

"Because… what was that?!" Anna suddenly jumped up onto the ex-thief's back. He raised his eyebrows as he recalled a very familiar moment from just a few years ago.

"It might be just a bunny," he said. Then a grin started to spread slowly across his face. "Or maybe… it's a bear… or a tiger… or a cheetah… or maybe even a lion… or perhaps it's a…."

"WOLF!" Anna suddenly jumped off of Eugene's back in fright as a creature leapt from the bushes.

Eugene, expecting it to be a bunny and not actually seeing what it was right at that moment, turned around and said, smirking, "Yeah, it's wolf, all right, and it's gonna get… get…. Oh no." He turned around again and saw to his horror (and embarrassment) a wolf; with eyes blacker than the blackest night, and teeth sharper than the Captain of the Royal Guard's sword could ever be.

Thinking quickly, the ex-thief swiftly took the frying pan in his hand and did the best thing he could think of and whacked the wolf on the head—very hard. Before it could do so much as yelp, the creature fell onto the ground—also very hard.

"Okay, we'd better go," Eugene said, backing away. "I know those things have a knack for sniffing people out really good, even when they've been knocked unconscious… actually, I've never heard of _that_ before. But I'm sure it can happen!"

"Hold on a sec…." Anna stepped forward slowly, reaching her hand out.

"_What are you doing_?" Eugene exclaimed in an urgent whisper. "That thing is gonna wake up any second now, and then it's gonna eat us both!"

"But it looks so… I don't know, _harmless_," Anna said softly, still stepping ever so slowly towards the unconscious creature. "Maybe…."

"Maybe we'd better go _right now_ unless you want to be eaten alive! Because I don't, but I'm all for it if you do!" Eugene declared in a voice filled to the brim with exasperation and fear.

"But maybe…." Suddenly, a scream sounded in the distance.

"Come on, let's _go_!" And before Anna could object, Eugene had grabbed her hand and pulled her up onto Maximus with him in one smooth motion.

"Oh, really? I don't need your help!" the Arendelle princess exclaimed. Then she added in a tone of voice that was somewhat awestruck, "Why is it that whenever our family gets together for whatever reason, something crazy happens?"

"I have absolutely no idea," Eugene replied as they raced through the forest on Max. And then they heard another scream.

"That sounds like Elsa!" Anna exclaimed.

"How do you know what her scream sounds like?"

"She's my sister; I know _everything_ about her."

"Such as… her favorite food?"

"Chocolate."

"Her last name?"

"….of Arendelle."

"Her best friend's name?"

"Probably Nathan."

"Her eye color?"

"Ice. Now you're just getting off topic."

"Whatever. What's her—?"

"I know her, okay?! Now would you _please_ just be _quiet_ and… and…. Be quiet?!"

"Whatever you say, 'princess'."

"Ooh, you're gonna get it…."

"Yeah, but unfortunately for you, it's not gonna be right now."

"Why not?"

"Because—"

There was that scream again.

"_ELSA_!"

* * *

Rapunzel sighed as she plopped down onto a large, poufy armchair. Lily and Benjamin were in a cradle nearby, and somehow they hadn't quite fallen asleep yet. She, Nathan, Nya, and the snowpeople had arrived in the castle library, where they had decided to wait for the others to arrive (whenever they would). Nathan had since sat down in a chair opposite to her with his head in his hands, while Nya had tumbled onto another one and instantly fallen asleep. Olaf and Summer had both wandered to somewhere else in the large room, and the Corona princess thought she could hear them muttering something to each other that sounded like, "books on yellow snow".

"So… I guess all we have to do now is wait," Rapunzel announced.

Nathan lifted his head out of his hands and stared at her with a distracted look in his eyes. "I guess so…."

"Hey, Nathan, are you okay? You look a little off…" Rapunzel said uncertainly.

"What? No, I'm fine. Just tired."

"You sure do look that way," the Corona princess noted.

"Yeah…."

"Do you wanna go to bed? I think I can handle these guys for a little while. It's been a really long day, especially for you, what with all the traveling you've been doing…."

"Uh… no, I'm good. Then again, I might even fall asleep right here." Nathan laughed halfheartedly.

"Okay, then." Rapunzel stood up and stretched. "Since they might not be back for a while, I think I might as well read something." She picked out a book at random from a bookshelf behind her and then sank back down into her chair.

Rapunzel then delved into the story of a wonderful adventure, and was calmed by the deep snores that now emanated from Nathan, who had fallen into a deep sleep before her. Soon, her eyes started to drift away from the words she was reading, and eventually her body gave way to exhaustion and Rapunzel fell asleep.

* * *

Kristoff and Kaara, with Sven beside them, wandered through the dark forest. Their eyes and ears were open for anything that might be Mary or Peter. The ice harvester had a lantern in his hand, one similar to Eugene's—except Kristoff had asked for his, instead of 'borrowing' it.

"Do you think we'll find them?"

Kristoff turned around to look at his sister. "I don't know."

"Do you think this search is going to be…. Pointless?"

"I…." Kristoff gulped. "I don't know," he repeated.

"Do you think Mary and Nya will be like us? At first having each other, but then losing them? And what if we never find Mary again? What if it's _different_ than us? What if…?" Kaara's words trailed off into nothing as she stopped suddenly.

Kristoff turned around, set the lantern down on the ground, and gave his little sister a big hug. "Don't worry, Kaara. Everything will turn out just fine."

"But what if it _doesn't_?" The young woman's chocolaty-brown eyes stared into her brother's.

"It _will_. Just… just have faith. All these years I've had to do that. All these years I've had to have faith that I would find you someday, and now… now I _have_." Kristoff gave a small smile. "Come on."

"Okay," Kaara replied, and followed her brother as they walked deeper into the woods.

As they continued onwards, Kaara started to get a feeling of deep unease. Her foreboding continued to grow as the sounds of the forest, the cracklings and snappings of unknown creatures, started to quiet. Soon, there was barely any sound except for the whispering of a sudden breeze sifting through the trees.

But then a sound interrupted the eerie silence of the woods that sent shivers down her spine. It was one she had always been afraid of, ever since she was a little girl, living with her parents and older brother, almost always outside. It was the sound of a creature always feared by even the strongest of ice harvesters, who had pickaxes at their disposal to use against these deadly creatures… the howling of a wolf.

"Kristoff…" she whispered, terrified.

"That's not good," the ice harvester noted as a wolf stepped through the trees to stand right in front of them, snarling at them.

"You think?" Kaara asked. Then she said aloud a question that could have no answer. "What are we going to do?"

Taking a deep breath, Kristoff looked his sister straight in the eye. "Go get help. I'll fend him off as well as I can. But… you and Sven probably shouldn't come back for me. I don't know what'll happen. These things can be really fast."

"But, Kristoff…." Kaara and Sven stared at him in horror.

"Go, Kaara. _GO_!" And with that, Kristoff stepped forward, took a branch from off of the ground, and walked towards the wolf.

"_Kristoff_!" Kaara started backing away from the scene before her, with Sven at her side, screaming, and said softly, "_No_."

* * *

Elsa and Hunter walked along the path of the forest. They had been doing this for what seemed like hours, and almost the entire time, as the Snow Queen realized just now, Hunter had been flirting with her. _Why, though?_ Well, that much was obvious. She was the queen—of a foreign kingdom perhaps, but she was a queen nonetheless. Why did men insist upon having the rulers of Arendelle fall in love with them just so that they could take over? Then again, maybe this was not quite the case with Hunter, but it was not good all the same.

"Elsa." The said man suddenly turned to look her straight in the eye, taking her hand in his.

"What?" she asked uncertainly.

"Elsa," Hunter repeated. "You are the most beautiful of women I have ever met on this planet. Your hair is as soft and white as a dove's wings. Your skin is as smooth and delicate as a china doll's. And your eyes sparkle just like the stars in the heavens above, and the ice you create with your gorgeous hands."

"Excuse… excuse me…?" Elsa said softly, blushing and not even thinking about Nathan.

Hunter muttered something that sounded like, "Please, let this work." And then he did something that Elsa wished with all her heart had never happened. And it concerned lips.

* * *

Eugene and Anna raced through the forest on Maximus until they came across Kaara, who had a petrified look on her face.

"So much for knowing it was your sister…" Eugene muttered.

"Kaara, what's wrong?" Anna asked, alarmed, as she slid off of Max. She was thinking to herself, _I thought it was Elsa._

"Kristoff…" Kaara answered in a horrified tone of voice.

"What?" Anna exclaimed, fully alert now. "What's wrong? Wait…. _Where's Kristoff_?!"

"There…." Kaara pointed a shaking finger in front of her. Anna's and Eugene's eyes traveled to where it was pointing and they gasped simultaneously at the sight before them.

Kristoff was holding a slightly bloody tree branch in his hand, standing in front of a wolf. The creature's dark eyes were scratched as it growled menacingly. It pounced and the ice harvester barely managed to dodge away from it, the branch breaking slightly with the impact of the wolf. Kristoff turned around, and, seeing Eugene and Anna, yelled to them, "Get out of here! It's not safe! Just go, just go!"

Eugene grabbed Anna's and Kaara's hands. "Come on. Do what he said and leave! Kristoff's right; it's not safe here! You go on; I think I'll be able to help him," he added in a falsely brave voice. It broke on the last word.

"NO! _KRISTOFF_!" Anna was barely held back by the ex-thief. Beside them, Kaara's eyes were overflowing with tears and Sven was howling—yes, _howling_—with grief.

"Come on—"

"_NO_!" Anna struggled violently against Eugene's grasp as the wolf pounced and pounced again, Kristoff barely keeping it from biting him.

"_ANNA_! You have to _go_! I'll help him the best I can!" Eugene exclaimed. His stomach dropped as another wolf ran into the clearing. And then another. He quickly pulled the Arendelle princess onto Maximus and Kaara onto Sven. He hit the horse on the rump. "Go, Max, go!" And then, with his frying pan raised high, ready to strike, he joined Kristoff in the battle against the wolves, who were now starting to grow in numbers one by one.

With that, the horse and reindeer raced away with the horrified women on their backs, through the forest, back to the edge of it, and away from Eugene and Kaara's brother and Anna's husband and Sven's best friend.

"_KRISTOFF_!"

* * *

Hook Hand was angry. Angry because Eugene had landed him with Shorty for the search. He was fine with searching and possibly almost getting killed by some unknown danger, but he was not fine with being with Shorty—alone—for this long. The drunk thug had been wandering around, behind, in front, and to the side of him for these past few hours (or that was what it seemed like), and Hook Hand had since decided to just ignore him to the best of his ability and focus on the task at hand in order to keep his sanity, a tactic he hoped with all his heart would work.

"Hey, Handy, wha' was tha' noise?" Shorty slurred. But the other thug just used his tactic for staying sane.

"There i' was again!" the short thug exclaimed. "Sounds like… I dunno… maybe my ol' mumzee cryin'… er, more like howlin's how she does it…."

Hook Hand clenched his remaining fist in an attempt to not go crazy and try to strangle Shorty. His tactic was slipping….

"And again! And again! And—"

Without warning, Hook Hand turned around and pulled him up by the white of Shorty's beard and gave him a vicious look in the eye, to which the other thug just looked at him stupidly.

"If you—"

But he was interrupted as a noise filled his ears. The howling of a wolf. "Oh, poop."

It was followed by a scream.

"Somebody needs our help!" He turned around and started racing in the direction of the scream, which was conveniently the same direction as where that noise, a howl, was sounding again.

Behind him, unknown to Hook Hand, Shorty had a simply loopy look in his eye as he said, pointing up above him, "The sky is blue!" Then he proceeded to fall over, face first, onto the ground in front of him, unconscious.

'Oh, poop', indeed.


	7. Chapter 7: Memories

**A/N: Happy Easter, everyone! For those of you who celebrate Easter, at least… Now, I am actually posting this on Easter Eve, but I was done editing it already and was too impatient to wait till later. So Happy Easter, anyways, because you will probably be reading it then (if you read updates that quickly). Also, I forgot to mention it last chapter, but I looked it up, and apparently there actually are such things as ice lanterns. It's true! As for this new one, we'll be delving in a little bit into Mary and Nya's past. Just thought I'd let you guys know. ;) :P Thank you for all of your reviews and support in general! You guys are amazing, especially when you yell your support out to the world! :D And lastly, I only own my own OCs (original characters) and the actual plot of this story. Enjoy! :D**

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

**MEMORIES**

_Everything was a confused blur…. A streak of gray flashed in front of her in the dark of night…. A sacrifice was made for her by a boy she barely knew…. A scream came from somewhere close; close enough to be from her…. Her hands reached forward…. The creature stopped in its tracks and stepped closer, the dangerous gleam no longer in its eye…. She stroked it gently…._

_ "Don't hurt him. Please," she said, and she knew that the creature wouldn't._

* * *

Mary's hazel eyes popped open wide as she stared at the dark canopy of green above her. Her first impression was that she was not in her room at the castle of Arendelle with her little sister. She sat up instantly and took in her surroundings. She was in the middle of a dark forest. The light of a newborn sun could be seen, just trying to make its way through the trees. In front of her sat a teenage boy, staring at her intently, with lines underneath his dark brown eyes and a strange look on his face.

Suddenly, a rush of memories came flooding into the eleven-year-old girl's mind as she rubbed her head. Climbing trees with the boy named Andrew; being found and then chased by a wolf. The wolf about to attack Andrew; and then…. Calling out to the wolf; it, stopping in its tracks a split second before striking. And then, the creature being calmed by Mary. In the back of her mind, she remembered hearing a boy's voice, yelling to her, but she had been lost in those deep, dark eyes of the wolf. But she couldn't remember any more, because all had gone black at that moment. She didn't know how long she had been unconscious for. But all had gone black just after she had started petting the wolf, and she didn't know why.

Mary sat up, pulling her long brown hair behind her ear before she turned her head to look over at Andrew. "What happened?"

"I… you… I knocked you out. That thing was gonna get to you! You were… not right in the head. What you were doing…." He stopped, not knowing what to say.

"Why did you do that?" Mary asked, starting to get angry now. "Why—that wolf was harmless! It wasn't going to hurt us!"

"Yes, it was! We need to get out of here… this place is dangerous…." Andrew stood up, holding his hand out for Mary to take. "Come on."

She looked up at him, seeing his… well, good-looking features. But now they didn't look nearly as cute as before. Now this was just another boy out there who wasn't going to get her anywhere. Mary realized that now, and wondered why she hadn't seen him this way before. He had hit her on the head; he had thought she was crazy for not being afraid of that wolf. He probably still did.

"No," she said simply.

"What?!" Andrew exclaimed, astonished. He looked over his shoulder nervously.

"I said, no," Mary repeated. Without taking Andrew's hand, she stood up herself and brushed her skirt.

"Listen, Mary," Andrew started. "I stayed out here for _hours_, waiting for you to wake up in this wolf-infested forest, and I'm not leaving without yo—"

"No, _you_ listen, Andrew," Mary interrupted. "I don't care that you stayed up, waiting for me. You shouldn't have even hit me on the head in the first place! Why? And where's that wolf?"

"I scared it off. It was a wonder it didn't try to kill me right then and there," Andrew responded in a heated voice.

"Why would you do that?!" Mary asked angrily. "He was completely harmless. Didn't you hear him speaking to you?"

"Speaking? Are you mad?! Wolves don't talk, except for when they growl and bark at you the moment before they eat you!" exclaimed Andrew.

"That's not what I mean!" Mary didn't realize that her voice was rising. "It was _speaking_; haven't animals ever spoken to you like that before?"

"No! That's why it's mad! Are you some sort of—of madman, or madwoman? Mad_girl_! Nobody can actually talk to animals! It's mental!" Andrew was now shouting as well.

"Well then, maybe you should go! It seems you don't want to be stuck in the woods with a _madgirl_, so you'd best be going!"

"Fine! Good luck staying _alive_!"

And with that, Andrew turned around and raced into the forest, leaving Mary, alone.

* * *

Hook Hand ran through the forest as fast as he could, following the screams that were ringing through the air every so often, a frying pan he had brought from the Snuggly Duckling in hand (his remaining one). They were getting louder, so he was getting closer to the person making them. Suddenly, he stumbled into a clearing, and the sight before him was not a pretty one. Before him were Kristoff and Eugene, the ice harvester holding a large (and noticeably bloody) tree branch in his hands, while the ex-thief was brandishing a big, slightly rusty frying pan. They were surrounded by a flock—wait, no, a _pack_ of wolves, at least a dozen of them, all in a circle facing them. They were all growling menacingly and baring their teeth at the two men.

The next thing Hook Hand saw was two of the wolves pouncing on Eugene, who whacked at them with his frying pan, knocking one of them out. But not before he gave a girlish squeal of fright. That_ was what I heard_, thought the other, however, dodged the blow, and attempted to bite the ex-thief, who only just jumped out of reach.

Then, another two wolves attacked Kristoff, who hit them with his branch and eventually shooed them back to the circle—but not before getting a nasty bite in his arm. He yelled out in pain (but not with a girlish squeak).

_Oh, man. Those things are just playing with them. I gotta go help!_ Hook Hand realized suddenly. Just at that moment, one of the wolves gave a howl. He could vaguely hear Eugene say something like, "That's not good" (which of course it wasn't). And at that very moment, the thug with a hook for a hand made a rash and slightly reckless decision.

With a war-like yell, Hook Hand ran forward boldly and, raising his frying pan high in the air, started whacking the wolves with it. They, in turn, changed direction and prey and started pouncing and trying to bite him, but with each vicious, snarling pounce, they were knocked backwards, unconscious. The most unlucky ones got scratched (miraculously just scratched) with the hook.

But those still conscious weren't giving up yet, and kept pouncing, trying to get to the thug. Soon, hearing the commotion made by their fellows and Hook Hand, more wolves came running into the clearing and attacked Eugene and Kristoff. For a little while, it was just the three men fighting off the persistent wolves, the ex-thief knocking them out with his frying pan, the ice harvester also knocking them out with his tree branch, and the thug… also knocking them out with his frying pan. Eugene was occasionally crying out the somewhat muffled and indistinguishable swear word—but not quite as bad as the ones Hook Hand used.

* * *

Kristoff whacked at the wolves that were currently trying to pounce on him with his tree branch. He wondered if any of them would end up getting splinters. Maybe they would. He hoped so, because these things were huge and trying to kill him.

He pushed at a wolf's face with one end of the branch. It stumbled backwards, dazed, before shaking its head and backing up a little, letting others in front of it. The ice harvester looked into its eyes, which looked like they had no end to them; they were dead black; pitch black; dark as the darkest, moonless, cloud-filled night.

And though he had dealt with wolves a few times before, Kristoff felt a little different about these ones. For one thing, their eyes were black, while the ones he had seen in Arendelle had yellow ones. Other than that they were pretty much the same—on the other hand, these ones might actually be a bit bigger. He wondered if there was a difference between these and the ones he had met before.

But there was no time to dwell on the matter, because now the wolves were starting to climb up onto the branch. How were they doing that—they were so big. But they were, anyway. Kristoff tried brushing them off with his arm, which got scratched in the process from either the branch or the creatures' teeth (or perhaps both).

He looked over his shoulder for a moment to see Hook Hand's determined and practically vicious expression. He was waving both his hook and frying pan around, knocking wolves out here, scratching them and occasionally hooking them there. At one point, a wolf had somehow stuck itself onto the said hook. Most likely by trying to bite Hook Hand, but failing, as the thug probably only felt a small weight on his arm. One of the pluses to having whatever happened to him that made him lose a hand, Kristoff supposed. The thug started waving it around like crazy until the creature flew off, back into the crowd with its fellows.

That gave Kristoff an idea. Looking at the wolf on his tree branch, he started spinning himself around with the animal still on it. _Wow, this thing is _heavy_!_ And thanks to that, and the sheer bulk of the creature, his plan wasn't exactly working. All he was doing was pretty much dragging the wolf on the ground in circles around him; perhaps making it dizzy, yes, and confusing it, but no more than he was confusing himself.

He suddenly heard laughter from behind him. The ice harvester saw Eugene out of the corner of his eye, knocking away a wolf and mirth pouring from him. Kristoff realized how ridiculous he probably looked right now.

"Why don't you come over here and help?" he shouted.

At this, Eugene gave him a look, but soon came over (reluctantly) amidst the crowd of wolves, knocking some of them out of the way as he did. Then, with his frying pan still in his hand, he grabbed the tree branch in Kristoff's hands, and together, they succeeded in giving the wolf the same treatment as the one Hook Hand had hooked. Eugene then let go of the branch and continued on where he had left off before wandering over to help the ice harvester. Still spinning around, Kristoff hit the other wolves around him, knocking them out and backwards.

* * *

Soon, more and more wolves started flooding into the clearing, and the men were starting to give up when a vivid picture of Lily and Benjamin's faces came into Eugene's mind. Would he let these wolves (who seemed to have a limitless supply of backup) get to him? Would he let them leave his kids, his _babies_, fatherless? Like him, without an old man to guide them through the harsh reality of life to the peace and happiness that came from a wonderful form called family?

No. He wouldn't. And that was the simple truth of it. With a renewed strength, he started whacking at the creatures even harder. Soon, he realized that their growth in numbers seemed to have stopped, and now they were just fighting off three dozen at most. Eugene looked over at his companions, nodded to them, and it seemed that his new power seemed to be contagious and reaching them. _Is this what it's like to have super-human strength?_ he wondered. But somewhere on his body, his hand, perhaps, he felt a sharp pain. But there was no time to dwell on that. He had found a new 'superpower' of his.

And in what seemed like no time at all, Eugene used his frying pan to hit one last wolf with a deafening _bang_. It fell to the ground, unconscious, and he, Kristoff, and Hook Hand all watched it fall to the ground as if in slow motion. They had won.

The three men were all panting and, as one, fell to the ground in exhaustion, looking at each other.

"Let's _not_ do that again, okay, guys?" Kristoff said.

"Agreed," Eugene replied.

But Hook Hand was simply beaming as he stated, "That was fun!"

* * *

Anna and Kaara were sitting on Maximus and Sven, who were racing to the edge of the forest. The two young women's tears were now starting to slow, and soon were only a trickle as they digested what was happening. They looked at each other occasionally, wordlessly asking each other, "What is going on?" After a little bit, they heard and saw something—or someone—flash past them.

"Whoa, Max!" Anna pulled the reins on the said horse, who stopped immediately. Sven did the same. The Arendelle princess looked at Kaara, who looked back at her. They were both thinking the same thing. "What was that?"

"I don't know." Kaara shrugged.

"Should we go check it out?" Anna suggested.

"Sure."

They both turned around and followed the direction of where they had seen whatever that thing or person was dart by. They didn't go very fast, because even the horse and reindeer were being cautious, until they heard a cry in the distance.

With that, Anna grabbed Max's reigns and kicked him, shouting to him, "Go, Maximus, go!" The horse gladly gave a great neigh and started galloping towards the noise, with Sven following after him.

They soon arrived in a clearing, which at first looked empty to the two girls, but then they noticed that it was occupied by three very familiar persons. Eugene, Kristoff, and Hook Hand were all sitting against trees, and they all looked absolutely exhausted. The first and third both had frying pans nearby their hands (or in the thug's case, hook), while the near the second's hand was a bloody tree branch. And that was the one who attracted their attention first.

"_KRISTOFF_!"

Before he could do so much as look up, the said ice harvester found himself under a pile of two young women and a reindeer. His wife, a fiery red-head, and his sister, a blond eighteen-year-old with puppy dog brown eyes. Anna and Kaara were both hugging him furiously, never letting him go. Sven was licking his face. They both kissed his cheeks (and in Anna's case, lips) like crazy as though they hadn't seen him for a century.

"Oh… hey, guys," he said in a muffled voice. "Glad you found us…."

Meanwhile, Maximus had given a snort—or neigh, or something—of joy and ran to Eugene, who smiled at his friend.

Suddenly, Kaara pulled back with an angry expression on her face. "_What in the world made you do that_?!" she exclaimed. "_You made me run off, leaving you to certain death by… by…._" She stopped and looked around at the wolves surrounding them unconscious on the forest floor. Her expression turned to one of puzzlement as she asked, "What in the world happened here?"

"Well…" Kristoff started. In the back of his mind, he was thinking, _Another Feisty Pants? Really? Isn't one enough?_ "Well, we were attacked by wolves when Hook Hand came along… and then there was this whole battle thing, with us against the wolves, and eventually, we knocked them all out," he explained.

"Oh, wow." Anna and Kaara both stared at him. Then, they noticed Eugene and Hook Hand nearby. "Oh, wow, are you guys okay?" Anna rushed over to the thug and gave him a kiss on the cheek. He smiled, thinking of a very familiar moment. The princess then went over to Eugene, and, smirking, pecked him on the cheek as well. He stared at her with a dumbfounded expression on his face. She stuck out her tongue at him before crawling back over to her husband.

"We'd better head back," Kaara said suddenly. Everyone looked at her. "It's not safe out here. These wolves have just shown us exactly what they're capable of. I mean, look at your hand." Everyone then turned to stare at Eugene's said… hand. They noticed that the front side of it was covered with blood and a bite mark was there. "See?"

"Uh…" Eugene said uncertainly, seeing the goggling eyes all looking at him like he was the most interesting person in the world.

"And Kristoff's arm!" Kaara exclaimed. Everyone, in turn, looked over to see a similar wound there. Anna gasped and stroked the uninjured part of that arm gently. "Come on. We'll have to look some more tomorrow. The sun's starting to come up already," Kaara added. Everyone looked upward and saw light starting to shine through the trees. Wow. They were all looking at everything she pointed out to them. She had not quite expected that.

"That's right," Eugene said. "I _did_ say we should go back there by sunrise at latest." He stood up, groaning and stretching. "Oh-kay, the lady's right. Come on." He looked at all of them with sadness in his hazel eyes.

Suddenly, Kristoff realized something. "Wait a second… what did we just go through with all of that for? We're looking for Mary and Peter! We… can't just go off without them." He looked at Kaara.

Eugene shook his head. "We'll look for them on the way to the edge of the forest," he said. "Come on, let's go."

With that, everyone nodded solemnly and crowded onto Maximus or Sven or just walked (in Hook Hand's case). After what seemed like forever, they reached the edge of the forest where they had first separated from the others. But no one was there yet. And so, they all waited for the others, hoping nothing had happened to them—especially if it involved wolves.

* * *

Elsa didn't know how long she and Hunter kissed for. But it didn't matter—she was kissing someone that wasn't Nathan. She thought her lips had sort of been sectioned off for just him. But apparently Hunter had not gotten the memo. And he was kissing her.

And she had barely known him for half a day. Granted, that had sort of been the same with Nathan, but this was… different. Strange. Unreal. Bad.

But she was… liking it? How was that even _possible_? This guy creeped her out, but she liked him kissing her.

Suddenly, realization struck Elsa about what she was doing. She knew that she had to stop. She pulled away from Hunter and stared at him as though he was mad, putting a porcelain white hand to her lips. "What in the—?"

The man looked down at her, smiling. "It will work," he muttered.

"What…."

"Yes!" Hunter was now shouting and jumping up and down triumphantly. "Yes! It will work! I will be free!"

"What…" Elsa repeated, staring at him.

Hunter stopped suddenly and turned around to face her. "It will work, and it will be all thanks to you, Queen Elsa!" He picked her up by her thin waist and swung her around above his head. "It will work!" he said again.

"I… I don't know what you're talking about," Elsa said uncertainly. Her eyes were filled with horror at what had just happened.

"Listen, Elsa, listen!" Hunter exclaimed. "You are the one to break my curse! _You_ are the key!"

* * *

Mary stared at the figure of Andrew, which quickly disappeared into the forest in front of her. She looked up and could see that the sun was now rising even farther above the horizon, shining on the leaves of the trees, the bushes, and the ground below her. She shivered. Even though it was summer, and she was in Corona, where it didn't get quite as hot as in Arendelle, it was fairly cold early in the morning, as she realized now.

Thinking of Arendelle made Mary think of her family, and that she was lost in the forest—alone. She needed to get back to them. But how? She was completely, utterly, totally lost in the forest. And she had strayed from the path long ago. She had no way whatsoever to get back home.

Home. Really, what was that? People said that home is where the heart is, Mary reflected. She had often thought about that. Where was her heart, anyway? She knew it did lie with her little sister, Nya, who had been with her forever. And James. But her little brother had died as a baby. And her parents had gone with him. Why did Mary have to lose so many people? Why had her parents and brother had to have gotten so ill?

She sure knew exactly _how_—it was too cold. It was that freezing winter that had been caused by the person who was now her older sister—Elsa. Her mother and father and little brother James had all not gotten enough warmth during the 'Great Freeze'. And then, even after it, they had gotten sick. Really sick. And then… she didn't want to think about what happened next.

Mary had never told her, or Anna. And Mary was too young to remember—she was only three. She didn't know how her parents and little brother had been lost forever. And Mary didn't want to burden her with that knowledge that she had been given at the age of nine, when no one should have to suffer anything like that at all.

And though she was ever so grateful to Elsa and Anna for taking them into their family, she still wished that she had her parents and baby brother. Maybe, if Elsa didn't have those powers… everything would have been all right. Looking back on this, Mary started to feel anger towards the Snow Queen build up inside her. In the back of her mind, she wondered how she could not have felt this way before. Maybe she was blinded by everything. She couldn't see where her heart was.

If that was true, then where was home?

That was a question Mary was determined to find the answer to.

* * *

Rapunzel's eyes opened slowly to meet the light of the sun, just peeking into the room. For a moment, she forgot where she was. But then, as she looked around, taking in her surroundings, she remembered that she was in the castle library, curled up in a large, poufy cushion, and that Nya, Nathan, Pascal, and the two snowpeople were in there with her. Nya's brown eyes were closed and her soft brown hair hung over her face like a veil as she slept. Nathan was asleep, too, while Pascal was curled up on the arm of the chair Nya was sleeping in, and Olaf and Summer were sitting in a large chair together with a book in their laps, muttering to each other. Sighing, she looked down and saw an open book in her lap. She took a deep breath and searched for the place where she had left off last night. And she could not know that before her, sleep was not pleasant for a certain five-year-old girl she had grown to love.

* * *

_Nya was laughing. She was playing with a little baby boy who reminded her a little of Benjamin, but was very different otherwise. He had dirty blond hair, but hazel eyes just like her and Ben. Beside her was Mary, who looked somehow younger than usual, and nearby were two people. A man and a woman. They were laughing, too, and though Nya did not know much about them, she knew that she loved them very much. She even knew their names._

_ "Momma, Daddy!" she said, holding her arms out to them. "Hug!"_

_ The two grown-ups came over to her, smiling, and gave her a big hug. The one called Daddy reached over and pulled Mary over, along with the baby boy. They all hugged and laughed and smiled and knew that everything was fine and happy._

_ Then, somehow, her vision shifted and changed. Nya was now in a freezing cold room, which had icicles blowing in through the open windows. Sunlight filtered through them. She looked up at her Momma, feeling scared. In Momma's arms was baby James, who was crying very loudly and sounded upset._

_ "Momma, what's wrong with baby?" Nya asked curiously. She didn't like it when her little brother was crying._

_ "James is sick, Nya," Momma replied, stroking her three-year-old daughter's thin brown hair._

_ "Is he hurt?"_

_ Momma smiled sadly at Nya's question. "No. Not really. But he isn't feeling well."_

_ "Can I pray for him?"_

_ "Yes, Nya. Pray for him as hard as you can."_

_ Nya looked into her Momma's eyes, which were looking at her curiously. Suddenly, her Momma coughed._

_ "Are you okay?"_

_ Momma smiled again. "Yes, Nya, I'm fine. Now, go get Mary and Daddy. They should have some firewood."_

_ "Yes, Momma." Nya happily jumped up and proudly walked out of the room, happy to be given such an important job._

_ Her vision seemed to shift again. She was in the same room as before, but now it was dark and warm. Nearby, lots of people were standing. Grown-ups. She was holding Mary's hand, and in front of them was a bed. She could hear coughing from it. She heard a sniffle some from Mary and looked up to see her face, which was red and puffy._

_ "Mary?" Nya asked._

_ "Yes, Nya?" Her older sister looked down at her._

_ "Where are Momma and Daddy?"_

_ "They're… they're going to be with baby James soon. The doctor said so," Mary replied sadly._

_ "Where's baby James?"_

_ "He's… he's in heaven with Jesus, Nya."_

_ "Why is he up there?"_

_ "Because… because it's his time. That's what they say."_

_ "Who's they?"_

_ "The people. They say we're going to have to live in an orphanage now." Mary could barely hold back her tears._

_ "Why?"_

_ "Because—" Mary's words were cut off as a particularly loud, shuddering cough came from the bed._

_ What happened next was all a blur. People rushing in, Nya, being pulled away from it all, out of the house, barely catching a glimpse of the people in the bed. They were so pale they could be white. And they were still. More still than she had ever seen them before. But they looked peaceful. They were her parents. And though she didn't think she knew it at the time, Nya knew, deep down in the bottom of her heart, that they were gone. Forever._

She woke up with a start, crying silently. She looked around the library of the castle. It was morning. Nya saw Rapunzel, who was awake with a book in her lap. She crawled over to her and tugged on her dress. Rapunzel's eyes left the book and fell on the little girl with red-rimmed eyes and a tear-streaked face, noticing Pascal wake up and look over in concern before joining them. She set her book down on a table beside her and picked the little girl up in her arms and let her cry, cry, and cry.


	8. Chapter 8: Of Betrayals and Apples

**A/N: Thanks for everyone's reviews! And yes, I know that last chapter was a little sad. I kind of did that one purpose, you know. Anyway, I changed a few things in these last couple of chapters, basically cutting the whole 'true love' thing with Hunter to something about 'the key'. You can check that out again if you want to. But yeah, everything about him will be cleared up here. At least, some of it… *evil laughter* Anyway, I'm posting this quite late where I am, so sorry 'bout that. Hope you likey! :D**

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

**OF BETRAYALS AND APPLES**

Mary realized that she probably shouldn't stay out there in the woods (alone) for long. She decided to start going somewhere, but the only problem was… she didn't know where she was. The eleven-year-old girl looked up at the sky, uncertain of what she should do, and admired its beauty from between the tops of the trees. It was so big, and blue, and bright. Turning her head, she accidentally glanced at the sun and looked away quickly. Then, it struck her.

She recalled the words of her mother from so long ago, "The sun rises in the east, and then it sets in the west." And since the sun had just barely started peeking up over the horizon, Mary knew that the direction she was now facing was east. Earlier, she had observed and deducted that to face the main village of Corona, you had to look southward. So, figuring things out one way or another, Mary chose to start walking with the sun to her right. And she hoped that that would work.

So, she set off, walking through the woods. While she walked, Mary started humming. And eventually it turned to singing. Her voice was soon joined by the twittering of birds, all waking up just then. To her surprise, she found that she was now somewhat enjoying herself. It was so peaceful, out there at the crack of dawn, conversing with nature and all of its beauty. And now Mary wasn't feeling so alone any more.

It was when most of the exotic colors of the sky made by the sunrise had faded away that she saw that the trees were starting to be more spread apart and open. Mary realized that, miraculously, she was reaching the start of the path, and the way out of the woods. She started running, faster and faster, until she had finally left the beautiful scenery behind her to be met by the sight of the castle, very far away in the distance. She gasped—with excitement or the slightest bit of nervousness, she did not know.

Looking around her, Mary noticed something that further lengthened her joy. It was a group of very familiar people, all sitting or lying on the ground nearby a reindeer and a horse.

"Anna! Kaara! Kristoff! Eugene! Max! Sven! And… Hook Hand!" she shouted, running over to them. She bowled into Kristoff, giving him a huge hug, and then turned to Kaara and did the same to her, and then Anna. Next was Eugene, who patted her almost clumsily on the back, to which the ice harvester smirked. Then she embraced Hook Hand. After that, Mary turned to Maximus and Sven and wrapped her arms around them both.

They all greeted her with surprise and delight. "Mary!" Kaara exclaimed. "We didn't know where you were! Are you okay?" She suddenly embraced the little (little?) girl again from behind her while Mary was hugging Max. Kaara turned her around before kissing her on both cheeks. "Where have you been?!"

Mary gave a small smile. "In the woods."

Kaara rolled her eyes. "Well, I can tell _that_ much." She sighed and turned to her brother and friends, tossing her yellow hair out of her face. "Where do you think Elsa is?"

"With Hunter," Eugene replied simply, taking a bite out of an apple that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"Where did you get _that_?" Anna asked incredulously.

"Max has loads of 'em," Eugene said with his mouth full of apple. "Want one?"

"Uh… no thanks." Anna turned away with a disgusted expression on her face. Seeing the ex-thief's extremely full, open mouth was something that would haunt a person for days.

"Suit yourself." Eugene shrugged and continued chewing.

"I'll have one!" Hook Hand said. He held out his hook and an apple was pierced through it, thrown to him by the ex-thief, before taking it off and taking a bite out of it.

Anna and Kaara exchanged disturbed looks.

"Wait, where's Nya? And Rapunzel? And Nathan? And the _twins_?!" Mary asked suddenly, looking around to see the people who were not there.

"They're back at the castle," Kristoff confirmed.

Mary breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good." Then her expression turned to one of confusion. "Wait—who's Hunter?"

"A guy who is currently searching with Elsa for both Peter and you," Eugene said between chomps on his fruit.

"Peter? The boy who's been crying wolf? Why would they be searching for him? And I still don't get who this Hunter person is," said Mary in a very slightly frustrated voice.

"Oh, that's right. I guess you left before Peter's dad came. I'll tell you what happened." Kaara then explained how the said man had come into the Snuggly Duckling and announced that his son had gone missing, and how they had gone back to the village, broken off into different groups, and then set off to find Peter and Mary.

"So he's missing," Mary said. It wasn't a question. She stared into Kaara's eyes. "We're going to find him, right?"

Kaara's lips turned up slightly, but her eyes didn't smile with them. "I'm not sure. I'm just glad that we found you, Mary."

"Me, too. But he must be so scared."

"_You_ don't look that way," Kaara noted, tilting her head to the side.

"Well, I like the woods. They're peaceful and beautiful. It's like… I _belong_ in them. But maybe other people don't, I guess."

"What do you mean?" Kaara said quietly—quietly enough so that if Mary wanted to, she could ignore it. Which she did.

"But what happened to you?" Anna questioned suddenly, looking at the girl in concern and bending down slightly to grab her shoulders. "You were missing for hours."

"I was… well, I was hanging out with one of the boys from the Snuggly Duckling, and then we were about to go back there when…." Mary's already hesitant words trailed off into silence. "Well, I… I think I'd…."

"Would you rather not say anything?" Kaara asked softly.

Mary looked up at her and nodded wordlessly.

"Okay, then. Maybe later, when you're ready." Kaara pulled her into another hug.

Behind them, they could hear Eugene saying something to himself that sounded strangely like, "Man, this apple is _good_!"

* * *

Elsa's legs suddenly seemed to lose any power in them. She stumbled and took a shaking step backwards. What in the world was Hunter talking about? The 'key'? The key to what? And what was this a about a curse? And _her_. What did _she_ have to do with any of it?

"Hunter…" she said uncertainly, staring up at him. "What's going on?"

"You are the key, Elsa!" he said again, his face alight with apparent joy. "You are the one to break my curse!"

"What curse?" she asked. "Key? What are you talking about?"

"Listen, Elsa, listen!" Hunter said excitedly. "I have been cursed; cursed to never feel again."

"What?" Elsa stared at him, aghast. This could not be happening. If anyone was to be her true love, it could not be Hunter. Rather, a very certain someone else. "How…."

"You are going to free me, Elsa!" the man before her exclaimed. Then his expression hardened. "And you will be free, too."

And then he did something. Something that could change the course of Elsa's life forever. By stopping it.

She suddenly felt a sharp pain in her side. She gasped. Looking up at Hunter, she saw him with a blank expression on his face before pulling her close to him and kissing her once more. Then he pulled away from her, leaving Elsa to see a dark red stain spreading very slowly across her dress from her hip. And beside it, in Hunter's hands, was a bloody knife, the deep red barely showing up against the glassy gray of the blade.

"Good bye, Elsa the Snow Queen."

And with that, he walked off into the distance, leaving Elsa behind forever.

* * *

Elsa didn't know how long she stayed there. But she had stumbled backwards with her hands clutching her side and fallen onto the ground. She leaned up against a large tree and closed her eyes. The pain was sharper and growing almost faster than the blood leaking through her fingers. A flurry of snow was starting to build up around her, started by her loss of control due to her scattered and fear-filled mind. But she barely noticed it.

There was only one thought in Elsa's mind as she lay there, in pain and complete, total shock.

_Nathan_….

* * *

Rapunzel gently set Nya down. "Are you okay?" she asked gently, looking into the little girl's red-rimmed eyes and pushing a strand of her soft brown hair behind her ears.

She nodded silently. Then she sniffed.

The Corona princes gave a small smile before hugging Nya again. She let her go a few seconds later. "What's wrong, Nya?" she asked.

"I n-need her," the little girl said in a slightly shaking voice.

"Oh, Nya."

Nya shook her head and buried her face in Rapunzel's dress.

"Shh, it's okay, baby," the woman said gently, pulling the little girl closer to her and stroking her hair as she started sobbing into her chest. "You're sister's gonna be back before you know it."

Nya looked up at her. "How do you know that?" she asked piteously.

"I just do." Rapunzel gave a small smile. Suddenly, she heard a faint whining sound. "Oh! It sounds like the twins are up." She looked into Nya's eyes. "Do you want to go say hello to them?"

Nya nodded.

Rapunzel smiled. "Come on, then." She took Nya off of her lap and set her on the ground in front of the chair and stood up herself before taking the little girl's hand and stepping over to the cradle where the babies lay. She then lifted Benjamin, the one who had made the noise, out of it, leaving the sleeping Lily inside. Next, she walked back over to her chair with Nya following behind her and sat down. The little girl crawled up next to her and looked down at the little baby in Rapunzel's arms.

"Can I hold him?"

Rapunzel gave a small smile. "Of course." She set Benjamin down on Nya's lap. "Be careful, now. He's only just a baby."

"Okay."

For a few minutes, they just sat, cuddled in that big, poufy armchair. Rapunzel and Nya both stared at Ben, stroking his soft brown hair and his smooth, rosy cheeks, staring into his big, brown eyes. Nya calmed down until her face was only a little pink instead of fiery red when she had been crying, and there was a feeling of peace in the air this beautiful, quiet, early morning. Nathan was fidgeting in his sleep, but it didn't really bother them, and they just let him be for a while.

But that only lasted for a few minutes, because just a little while after Rapunzel had brought Benjamin over, she heard a gasp coming from in front of her. She and Nya jumped in their seat as they saw Nathan stand up with a slightly wild look in his now wide open eyes, wide awake instead of fast asleep as he had been a moment before. Then he gasped in pain, grabbing his leg, which Rapunzel immediately noticed to be somewhat lumpy and wrapped in cloth that she had not noticed before.

"Nathan!" she exclaimed, alarmed, standing up as well. "What's wrong?"

"Elsa," Nathan muttered, running his hands through his brown hair nervously.

"What?" Rapunzel put a gentle hand on his shoulder, stopping him and making him face her.

He turned around with an expression of uncertainty and slight fear on his face. "Dream… never mind." He slumped back down on his chair again, wincing.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Rapunzel asked, concerned.

"Yeah, fine…."

The Corona princess saw it would be pointless to try and get more words out of him, so she sat back down herself and started reading a book aloud to Nya, occasionally glancing hurriedly over to look at Nathan.

* * *

Anna looked up as she heard a sort of whirling sound coming from inside the forest. She gasped to see clouds of snow, hovering above a section of the woods that seemed very far away. That was very odd, because wind of ice didn't just appear out of nowhere in Corona—not even in Arendelle, a somewhat colder place temperature-wise, except for that one time.

"Elsa," she said quietly. She stood up from her spot on the ground, staring at the storm now expanding slightly through the forest.

"What?" Eugene's voice came from behind her back.

"Look at _that_," Kaara said in an awed and slightly alarmed voice.

"It's Elsa," Anna noted in a small voice. Suddenly, she was shaken out of her reverie and she started running into the forest, shouting behind her, "Something's wrong with Elsa!"

She barely heard the shouts of, "Anna!" coming from behind her, because she had a very, very bad feeling in her stomach, and she knew she just had to get to her sister. She didn't hear their attempts to keep up with her, racing to catch up, but she soon left them far behind, running towards the chill now seeping into her bones.

After what seemed like mere seconds that could have been minutes or even hours, Anna finally came across her. She could barely see her through the fog of white surrounding the Snow Queen. She was slumped against a tree, her face even paler than before—so pale it could literally be white. Her hands were clutching her sides in a weak attempt to stem the red liquid that was covering them and her dress.

Anna stopped suddenly, her hands over her mouth in silent horror. She was frozen; she didn't know what to do, she didn't know what to do, she didn't know what to do. Her sister was hurt, her sister was hurt, _Elsa_ was _dying_. And the only person able to heal her was so, so far away—too far away. Her mind had gone blank and those were the only thoughts she had.

_Elsa._

She made a small noise in the back of her throat. Elsa turned her head around, her eyes a little glassy. They widened at the sight of her cousin. She coughed suddenly.

At this, Anna was snapped out of her reverie and she practically fell on the ground in front of the Snow Queen and enveloped her in a breath-stopping hug. Elsa weakly put her shaking arms around her sister, and Anna could feel warmth on her back, even through this cold. She pulled back from her hurriedly, staring into Elsa's very, very white face.

"Elsa," she whispered in horror.

"Anna," Elsa said feebly. She had put her hand back onto her side after their embrace had ended, and now lifted it back up, looking at the red standing out brightly against the white.

Anna gasped, her green-blue eyes wide. "We… you're hurt! I've got to get you to Rapunzel! Elsa!"

"Anna, I… I don't think there'll be enough time…" Elsa stuttered.

"No, Elsa. There is. There _is_ enough time. There _has_ to be." The princess's eyes suddenly widened even more. "KRISTOFF!" she shouted over her shoulder. "EVERYONE! COME QUICKLY! ELSA'S HURT!"

A moment later, those who had been on the edge of the forest with her had stumbled through the tangle of trees and bushes to them. They were all, of course, shocked, but after some words of explanation from Anna, Kristoff ran over and gently lifted her off the ground. Without another word, they all ran out of the forest, jumping onto Maximus and Sven and hoping against hope that Elsa would last long enough for them to get her to the only one who could heal her.

Anna thought she could hear Kristoff whispering to her sister in a voice that sounded like he was trying to convince himself of some impossible thing.

"Just hand in there, Elsa. It'll be okay."

* * *

Nathan was slumped in his chair, groaning, with a horrible feeling starting from his head, all the way down to his toes, but mainly in his stomach—or perhaps it was his heart. He did not know what was going on except for the fact that Elsa was out there, somewhere, and something bad was happening. He was feeling absolutely miserable.

He jerked his head upward suddenly as he heard a knock on the library door. "Come in…" he said in a depressed tone of voice.

The door opened, and several people toppled in at once. And the one that stood out the most to Nathan was the one with a red-stained side and pale face, the one in Kristoff's strong arms.

"Elsa!" he exclaimed, jumping up from his seat. He didn't care how much his leg hurt him; Elsa was really, truly hurt, much more injured than he was.

"Elsa!" Rapunzel repeated his words, tears starting to stream down her face. She stood up and took her from Kristoff, setting her onto one of the chairs. Her face was drained of all color and she was barely conscious, and Rapunzel wondered, for the first time ever, if her magic would work, if it was strong enough to heal her cousin.

She suddenly leaned over and hugged her, crying all over her. Elsa wrapped her own arms around Rapunzel, however much pain it took her, and cried, too. Neither of them noticed Nathan hovering right beside them.

And a tear found its way onto Elsa's cheek. Just like with Eugene, Rapunzel's magic seeped through her cousin, down to her side. The wound there started to heal rapidly, the pain fading, the color returning to Elsa's face, and the flow of blood stopping abruptly.

Rapunzel pulled back from her cousin and gave a small smile. "Are you okay?"

Elsa returned the smile. "Really? Is that question even necessary?"

Her cousin chuckled. "I guess not." Suddenly, the expression on her face hardened as she asked, "What happened? Who did this to you?"

The Snow Queen's smiled faltered. "It was… Hunter…."

Everyone in the room gasped simultaneously, and Rapunzel put a hand to her mouth in shock. "_What_?!"

Elsa then explained what had happened. During the small story, everyone's expression and feeling of disgust and horror had deepened greatly.

"He _what_?!" she exclaimed. "We need to find him, put him in jail, have him banished, executed… maybe! You can_not_ commit attempted murder on someone without having a fair punishment."

"I don't know." Elsa shook her head. "He ran off after he stabbed me."

"Yeah," Rapunzel said. She was infuriated. Her cousin had nearly _died_, thanks to that… that… _inhuman being_. He needed to be taken care of. She and Elsa stood up together. "We need to find him and make him pay."

At this, Nathan jumped up in a fury, ran over to Elsa, kissed her, and started out the door.

"Wait, Nate."

Nathan turned around with an absolutely angry expression on his face. "What?"

"I… I don't think we'll be able to find him very easily right now, and I'm… I'm _exhausted_."

After an inner war within himself, he realized the truth in Elsa's words. Nathan sighed before nodding. "Okay, then. Tomorrow."

"Or rather, later today," Elsa noted. They both looked up at the sky, which was now brightening up with the sunrise.

"Yeah." Nathan came over and put his lips on hers, and she kissed back wholeheartedly. But that only lasted for approximately two and a half seconds, because there were people in the room with them, and anyway, their relationship wasn't so serious as to be kissing for very long amounts of time, what with them not being… married, and all.

"He's the kiss stealer!" Nya exclaimed suddenly with an absolutely vicious look on her face.

"Me?" Nathan asked, confused.

"I think she means _him_," Elsa said quietly.

They suddenly heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them.

"Erm, excuse me, your Highness, but I must go alert the rest of the royal guard to go and search for this 'Hunter' you speak of."

Everyone turned around to see one of the palace soldiers walk out from behind one of the shelves.

"Umm, I didn't know guards stalked people," Anna muttered to Rapunzel, putting a hand over her mouth.

"They don't _stalk_ us. They're just all over the place; example, the library," Rapunzel said back.

"Oh. Okay."

"Yes, that would be very helpful," said Rapunzel, turning to the guard.

"We will go immediately and not rest until we have found him."

"Thank you," Rapunzel said.

"Was he listening to _everything_?" Anna now asked of her sister.

"That's what I'm afraid of."

"Will that be all, Princess?" the guard asked.

"Yes, Aaron, I think so," Rapunzel said.

"His name even _sounds sneaky_!" Anna whispered.

"How does 'Aaron' sound sneaky?" Elsa asked, bewildered.

"I'll go, too!" Nathan decided suddenly.

"But… your leg," the Snow Queen said softly, turning to him.

"My leg is…." But before he could finish his sentence, sharp pain seemed to slice through Nathan's leg like a knife. Defeated, he sat down in a chair with a stubborn expression on his face. "Fine. Never mind."

With a bow to Rapunzel and formal nod to Eugene, the guard left the room.

"So everyone's back again," Kaara noted, sighing with relief.

"Except for Peter," Mary said sadly, with Nya on her lap in a large chair.

"Yeah. We'll have to look for him later," said Eugene. "Anybody want an apple?" he added as an afterthought.

Some people said yes, some people said no. Eugene handed one to everyone who did want one. And then everybody told everyone else about everything that had happened to them. Nobody could rest until they knew _everything_—that is, except for Nya, who could hardly wait to sleep—in Mary's arms. Everything was peaceful once again, and the lingering thoughts of both Peter and Hunter slowly faded away as they all fell asleep in the library, all glad to be back together once again.

Little did they know that this was only the beginning of their newest troubles.


	9. Chapter 9: A Game of Chess

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews! So yes, just a heads-up, a section of this story might seem similar to a certain part in Fire230's own story—but I was planning on adding it into Ice Meets Fire and it didn't fit in. Anyways, hope you like! :D And you know what I own.**

* * *

**CHAPTER NINE**

**A GAME OF CHESS**

Voices murmured indistinguishable words somewhere outside the world of Anna's dreams. They sounded familiar; deep, slightly comforting, and clearly male. She slowly, carefully, steadily discontinued the act of sleeping, keeping her eyes closed but widening the horizon of her other senses. Being the somewhat sneaky and very curious person she was, she kept quiet and decided to listen in on the conversation.

"So she must be a heck of a gal to live with, huh?" That was Eugene's sarcastic voice.

"Yeah, I guess so," came Kristoff's from right beside her. "I mean… she's adorable to an extent, and great and all, but a little… outgoing… kind of crazy… stubborn, you know. But at least Olaf likes her."

At this, Anna became quite confused. Who were they talking about?

"What about you, Natey?" Eugene asked.

"'Natey'? Really?" said the voice of Nathan.

"Eh. Answer the question."

"Same as Kristoff, I guess. But she is kind of cute, you know."

"Okay. But she is a lot like Olaf, from what I can tell, you know?" said Eugene.

"Yeah," replied the others in unison.

It was then that Anna's concentration started slipping. They were talking very rudely about a certain someone, and she knew who it was and did not like it one bit. Her. And she did not hear the rest of their conversation amidst her anger.

"So she's one crazy snowgirl, then?"

"Snow_lady_."

"Ah, of course. Summer the crazy snowlady."

* * *

Rapunzel opened her eyes to see a strand of light brown hair over her eyes. She brushed it away, yawned, stretched, and looked around her. She was still in the library, where everyone had fallen asleep. She was lying on Eugene. For a moment, she could not remember _why_ she was in here in the first place. And then she did.

_My cousin almost died…. Again!_ she thought with a little bit of shock. And everything she had been told the previous night was simply shocking, too. What a wonderful way for her cousins to start their visit.

Which reminded her that today, just a few days before Rapunzel's birthday, the beginning of a festival would take place. She still needed to talk with her parents about some things concerning it.

She suddenly noticed Olaf and Summer standing in front of Kristoff, who was trying to wake up Anna. It didn't seem to be working; either the princess was just a very deep sleeper, or she was more stubborn than usual. She did seem to be awake, but her eyes were shut very tightly. Her snores were a bit too loud to be realistically asleep.

"What time is it?" Rapunzel wondered aloud. The sun was shining brightly through the library windows, and though it felt quite early, and she was still very sleepy, she had a feeling that it was at least noon.

"I have no idea," Kristoff replied.

It seemed that only he, Eugene, Nathan, and Rapunzel were awake, not counting the two snowpeople, who didn't exactly have the need or probably even ability to sleep.

"Why are you trying to wake Anna up?" Rapunzel asked.

"Can't you see she's already awake?" said Kristoff. "I found her like that a while ago and now I'm trying to get her up. I don't know why she isn't already."

"Uh, Anna? Is something wrong?" Rapunzel said to her cousin after nodding at Kristoff.

Snores.

"She won't get up!" Kristoff exclaimed. "I'm pretty sure there's something wrong. So yeah, what _is_ wrong?"

Grunts.

"Hmm."

Rapunzel turned her head to see Eugene stroking his goatee in puzzlement. "Any idea on how to cure her of this stubbornness curse?"

"We _could_ get Pascal and…."

"No," said Rapunzel very firmly.

"Why not?"

"Because I said no."

"Fine," Eugene pouted.

Rapunzel raised her eyebrows at him. "Did you want her for any specific reason?" she questioned Kristoff.

"Well, I was kind of hoping to play chess for some reason," he replied. "By the way, do you have that game around here?"

"Yes. Do you want me to go get it?"

"I don't have anyone to play with."

"I'll do it!" Olaf exclaimed suddenly, waving his stubby stick arms around.

"Uh, Olaf, do you even know how to play chess?" Eugene inquired in a bemused tone of voice.

"Uh… no, but I bet Kristoff can teach me!"

"Me, too!" Summer added.

Kristoff looked to Eugene for help, who shook his head, and then to Nathan, who said, "Sorry. You're on your own."

"Fine," he consented, turning back to the snowpeople. "But you'd better do it right, okay, guys?"

"Okay!" Olaf and Summer replied in chorus.

Rapunzel took off to find a chess board and came back a few minutes later with one. She handed it to Kristoff, who took it from her, and, sighing, pulled over a nearby desk and began to set up the pieces, white on his side and black on the other. Olaf tried to bring over a chair, but his stubby arms weren't strong enough to pull it. Nathan softened his heart a bit and came over to help. Soon enough, Olaf was sitting in front of Kristoff, eyes excited, intent, and also slightly distracted, waiting to begin.

"Hold up!" he said suddenly, holding out a hand. "Let me put my thinking cap on!" With that, he rubbed his head slowly as if in great concentration, eyes closed, before standing up, grabbing a book off of a bookshelf, and placing it on his head. "There we go!"

With a shake of his head in bewilderment, Kristoff explained the rules of chess to the best of his ability to the snowman, and while anyone else would be able to understand it, Olaf could not. He kept getting distracted by the slightest thing, thinking he saw a butterfly out of the window, starting to explain to Summer that brown snow with lumps of soft, squishy stuff were just as bad as yellow snow, if not worse, etc. And his "thinking cap" kept falling off his head, so he had to bend down to retrieve it numerous times.

"Does this piece eat apples or something?" he inquired of Kristoff towards the beginning of the game, pointing a stick finger at one of the knights.

"No…?"

"Oh-kay, 'cause I really thought it might. It looks so much like Max, you know…."

"What?"

"Ne-ver mind. Wait a sec…. Ooh! This one looks like Elsa…! Can it make snowpeople, too? Why doesn't it talk?" Olaf pointed to the queen.

So they only made it through about one tenth of the game before Kristoff started going more than a little crazy and told Olaf that the game was finished in the nicest way possible.

"Did I win?" the snowman asked excitedly.

"Uh, not exactly, Olaf…" Kristoff said.

"Hey, Kristoff, Summer's still gotta play," Eugene called over to him. He smirked at the ice harvester's very loud groan.

"Fine. Olaf, it's Summer's turn, and yes, fine, you did win, so you're done."

"Yay! Okay, good luck, Summer-poo! Don't forget your thinking cap!"

"Thanks, Olaf!" Summer hopped up onto the chair Olaf had just left. "I won't!"

After staring at the snowlady for a few seconds, Kristoff suddenly pushed back his own chair, standing up and saying firmly, "Sorry, but I'm done with chess. Olaf, Summer… you're on your own."

With that, the two snowpeople exchanged looks before smiling broadly. "Okay!" And with that, Olaf started to teach Summer chess. Disaster ensued.

"Okay, so here's how it goes: first, you set up the pieces. Now be careful, 'cause this is the Maximus Piece, and it can get a little bit feisty with the apples…." He gave a quirky little giggle. "'Kay? Got it?"

"Got it!" Summer consented.

"And this bishop thingy is like those rock people, so he's good at erasing memories. And then this rook likes to go fly off sometimes, and I don't get that, because most castles don't move or even know _how_ to fly, you know? I mean, it's not even a bird!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Anyway, so the queen is like Elsa. She can make more snowpeople. Isn't that _awesome_? She made a mini me, and a mini you! See?" Olaf pointed to the pawns on the board. "So then, you wanna start the game with a bunch of groans and weird hand gestures in your hair and stuff that sounds like, 'Ooolaaf' in a really low, _really_ frustrated voice…."

* * *

Rapunzel had not had the heart to watch Kristoff struggle so to give Olaf the lesson, and since Anna was still refusing to show that she was actually awake, and no one else was up yet, she decided to go and speak with her parents about various things. She stood up, told the boys where she was going, and left the room.

She soon arrived at the throne room, where the king and queen were presumed to be. They were talking with a man, though their conversation seemed to be ending, as he was now bowing before he turned around and exited the room, passing by Rapunzel and bowing to her slightly before continuing on his way. She smiled at him and walked up to her parents and curtsied briefly. "Hi."

Queen Primrose and King Benjamin both smiled at their daughter before the queen ran up to her and hugged her. "Rapunzel! How are you?" she asked. Her face showed an expression of only slight worry, even though she was still definitely uncertain and scared from the night before.

"Uh… Mother, I don't know if you noticed, but last night was kind of a crazy night." Rapunzel looked less baffled than she felt.

"Yes, I know. But I don't want you to worry, or the kingdom to worry, you know," her mother said before kissing the princess's cheeks. "A guard came by last night and told me everything he heard before sending out a search party for Hunter."

"So you know everything?"

"Yes, dear, and so does your father."

As if on cue, the king stepped forward and he, too, embraced Rapunzel. He gently pulled away from her and brushed some hair out of her eyes. Tears glistened in his light blue ones.

"Daddy…."

"I could have lost you." Rapunzel's father pulled her into his chest in a firm grip. She could feel his comforting warmth envelope her and sighed, hugging him back.

"I'm all right. It's Elsa who was in the most danger," she said gently.

"I know. Where is she?"

"She's asleep. So's pretty much everyone else, except for the boys and Anna, who is only pretending to be asleep for who know's why."

Rapunzel heard her mother sigh. She carefully pulled away from her father to look at her as she spoke.

"Anna is just like her father. He was always quite stubborn for the strangest of reasons," she said softly.

"Do you miss him?" Rapunzel asked, even though the answer was obvious.

Primrose gave a small smile. "Yes, I do. At times, the pain seems to have numbed, such as when I'm distracted by other things, but sometimes it feels like the world is crashing around me, and I've lost him all over again."

"But at least you have all of us."

"Yes, Rapunzel, I do. And I'm grateful for that."

They all stood in silence for a little while before Rapunzel remembered exactly why she had come here in the first place.

"Oh! Mother! Daddy! The festival!" she exclaimed. "Um…. Are we still doing it? What with, you know…."

"Oh, yes," King Benjamin said. "Because of all the chaos of last night and how late everyone slept in, we postponed it until one o'clock."

"So we're still doing it?"

"Yes. It's best not to let everyone down, even though the disappearance of a child is so great a loss—" Rapunzel's mother exchanged looks with her father— "that we thought we'd still do it. And everyone would be ever so disappointed, too, of course, otherwise."

Rapunzel nodded, frowning. "What time is it now?"

"About noon," Queen Primrose answered.

"So… we have an hour to get ready," said Rapunzel.

"Yes. Everything is being set up already, so there's no need to help with that except for perhaps the last-minute things. If you want to, everyone can have a somewhat late lunch there and wait for now," the queen explained.

"Okay. I guess I'll go wake everyone up, then." With a kiss on her parents' cheeks and quick curtsy, Rapunzel had started to rush back to the library, but stopped when she heard a knock on the throne room doors. The guards standing by them opened them up to reveal a man, who bowed to both of them before starting to walk up to the king and queen. Rapunzel stayed where she was, by their sides, and watched as the man approached her parents with a bow and smile she could tell was forced.

"Your Majesties."

"Yes?" King Benjamin said.

"I have a problem. Just now, I went to go feed my prize pigs, when I found they were gone. And there was blood in their pen," the man explained in a slightly pained and even a little whining voice.

"Hmm. Is that all?" the king asked solemnly.

"No, sir." The man's expression became flustered. "My duck disappeared, too. All that was left of that was a bunch of scattered feathers. My pigs were prizes! Magnificent things! And I had three of them, and they're all gone! Stolen, or eaten by a wolf," he finished bitterly.

"Hmm," repeated the king. "Um, hold on a moment, please—er, Rapunzel, if you would…?"

Knowing what her father meant with his brief words, Rapunzel nodded, curtsied, and restarted and completed her task, running off and out of the room, back to the library.

She arrived to find that mostly everyone else was awake, all except for Elsa, who had fallen asleep in a chair next to Nathan's. Anna was still feigning slumber, and Kristoff had started a game of chess with Eugene. From the furious look on the ex-thief's face and the satisfactory look on the ice harvester's face, it seemed that Kristoff was winning. Olaf and Summer were nowhere to be seen, but they could be heard somewhere in the room, discussing the object of winning a chess game and wondering aloud if they could make up their own game, or a real-live game where Elsa made a whole bunch of snowpeople and snowmaximuses and snowtowers and they could play chess with them on a giant board.

"Hey," she said as she walked in.

Everyone looked up from their various places around the room and said "hello" or something similar in reply.

"Can I wake Elsa up?" Rapunzel asked of no one in particular.

It was Nathan who answered her. "If you want, I guess. Though, she's had a long night."

"As have we all," Kaara said firmly.

"But her especially," put in Kristoff, who was casually sitting by and waiting for Eugene to make his move. It seemed to be taking a while, so Rapunzel presumed he was stuck.

"Yeah," breathed Nathan. His gaze turned to the said Snow Queen, whose eyes were closed and was breathing deeply.

"Maybe I'll tell her later, then, but I forgot to tell you guys something." Rapunzel sat down in the chair she had been in before. "We're having a festival for my birthday, starting today and ending then. It was supposed to start earlier this morning, but the time changed to one o'clock because of what happened last night… you know…." Her words trailed off into silence.

Eugene's exclamation of frustration interrupted it. "WHY?!"

Kaara chuckled, looking over to see her brother with a smug look on his face, which he was trying to hide, and the ex-thief barely holding back his hands from knocking the chess board over. "All right, then. What time is it, anyway?" she questioned Rapunzel.

"A little after noon, probably," the Corona princess replied airily.

"Are there gonna be games at the festival?" Nya asked excitedly.

"Yes, Nya. And prizes and things, too. And Hook Hand will be having a show."

"Yippee!" the little girl exclaimed, jumping up and down in her chair and giggling.

"What about you, Mary? Aren't you excited?" Rapunzel said.

Mary shrugged her shoulders. "Sure. It'll be fun, I guess."

"Why the down face?" Kaara asked, standing up from her chair before stepping over to the young princess and sinking into Mary's chair.

"I don't know. I'm just tired, that's all."

"Okay. You know, if there's anything you need to tell us—any of us!—don't be afraid to say so, all right?" said Kaara, squeezing her shoulders.

"Okay." Mary graciously accepted the young woman's affection.

Nya's expression suddenly turned to one of confusion. "Why is Anna pretending to be asleep?" She pointed at the 'slumbering' older princess.

"That's what _I'm_ wondering," Kristoff said, turning his attention from yet another game of chess with Eugene (he had beaten the latter in the previous one) to the little girl. "She's been like that all morning.

Nya walked over to Anna and prodded her. "Why are you pretending to be asleep?" she asked, repeating her question.

Grunts.

"Can you pretend to be awake, too? Or can you just pretend to be asleep?"

Groans.

"Are you dead?"

Stifled giggles.

"Come _on_, Anna!"

"Do you wanna build a snowman?" Kaara sang in a voice that sounded uncannily like Anna's.

Pained groans.

"All right, all right, I'm up!" Anna exclaimed, sitting up in her seat before standing up and resolutely walking as far away from any male that wasn't a baby, snowman, or animal as possible and settling down in another chair.

"What's up with you?" Eugene said bemusedly.

"As if you don't know."

"What?"

Silence.

"Anna, is there something wrong?" Nathan asked.

"Of course there is. No, wait a minute, of course there _isn't_. You should know, too."

"Anna?" said Kristoff.

She ignored him.

"Hey, Anna? Feisty Pants?"

More ignoring.

"Anna!"

"She's not going to listen to you." Everyone turned their heads to see that Elsa had woken up who knows when without anyone realizing it. "You should know, Kristoff."

"But what's up with her?"

"I have no idea. Just wait till she's stopped ignoring you to ask her," said Elsa.

"I heard that," Anna said grumpily.

"That's the point." Elsa raised a finger to emphasize what she was saying.

"Hey, Elsa, exactly why are you so cheerful right now? You nearly _died_ last night, for goodness' sake!" Eugene said.

"I honestly have no idea. Maybe I've just been trained not to show my feelings so much over the years, and I've experienced so much of this already," the Snow Queen replied.

"Wow. You really have a way with words."

"Thank you…?" Elsa said, confused.

"Wow, look at the time!" Rapunzel exclaimed suddenly. "You know, let's just… um… end the conversation and go get ready! We have a busy day ahead of us, especially since a whole bunch of the royal guard are going to be following Elsa around all day, making sure that she doesn't get stabbed again!"

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, yeah, you were asleep when I told everyone else." Rapunzel relayed what she had told the others earlier about the festival.

"All right, then. But I don't think I'll need the royal guard," said Elsa resolutely.

"Yes, well, my mother will, and…."

"And we'll be right there with you, all of us, so you won't be needing any 'royal guard'," Nathan said firmly, standing up and putting his hands on Elsa's shoulders.

"Okay, we'll just figure something out," said Rapunzel, slightly hurriedly.

Suddenly, they heard muffled shouting and thumping from outside the room.

"What was that?" Kaara, Anna, and Rapunzel asked at the same time in the same tone of voice.

"I'll go see," Nathan said, standing up, but with a glower from Elsa, sat back down again. "Or maybe I will _not_ see…."

The Snow Queen then stood up herself and turned to the door before opening it. Outside, a group of what looked like the royal guard and a figure with ripped and tattered and very familiar blue and gray clothing was struggling to either stay together or separate.

"What's going on?" she called over to them in a slightly shocked voice.

"We think we've got 'im, yer Majesty! We've got the would-be murderer Hunter!" one of the guards yelled back. "But we need you to make sure, ma'am! Is this the wanted man?"

"Oh, my," Elsa muttered to herself before running to the group, whose struggle had stopped abruptly. She cleared her throat before saying, "Yes, this is him."

The man she recognized to be Hunter stared at her, wide-eyed and with shock almost literally written across his face. "I thought I killed you…. What's going on?! I KILLED HER!" He instantly reached out to grab Elsa, but was held back by one of the guards.

"We're taking him to one of the cells," he explained.

"Okay." Other than that, Elsa was speechless.

"Hey, what's going… YOU!" Nathan suddenly appeared at Elsa's shoulder, and with a glance at Hunter, he leapt forward in an attempt to put his hands around his throat or anywhere it hurt. But he was stopped by a simple touch from Elsa's gentle hand and pulled back, breathing hard and wincing as pain shot up his leg.

Having calmed down himself, Hunter raised his eyebrows. "Yes, me."

"Come on, Nate. They're taking him down to prison," Elsa said softly, but she glared at Hunter nonetheless.

"But he—!"

"Will be interrogated and then punished," said the Snow Queen evenly.

"I—"

"Wait…. How did she survive? I stabbed her! _How did she survive_?!" Hunter interrupted suddenly.

"That's something I'd rather not tell a potential murderer," Elsa said coolly.

"Why did you do this?" Nathan asked aggressively.

"Because I _had _to!"

"That's no reason for attempted murder!"

Hunter gritted his teeth as the royal guard started walking onwards with him before yelling back, "You'll pay for this, Elsa! I'll get you, Snow Queen, and then I'll get my reward!"

"Just like Hans," Elsa whispered to herself.

"Huh?" Nathan said, his blue eyes narrowed, staring at the back of Hunter.

"Never mind. Let's go." Elsa grabbed Nathan's arm and pulled him back into the library, where it seemed that everyone had heard the commotion in the hallway.

"What was that all about?" questioned Kaara.

"Hunter," Elsa replied gravely.

"Oh, wow," Mary said softly.

"How are you, Elsa?" said Kristoff gently.

"They got Hunter!" exclaimed Olaf. Then he paused. "Wait…. Who is this 'Hunter'?"

"I think he kills animals in the woods and then eats them alive," Summer whispered to him.

"Oh, yeah!"

"Are you okay?" Rapunzel asked concernedly. Even Anna, in her strangely bad mood, looked up.

"Fine. Let's just get ready for the festival. It's your birthday celebration, after all, and it's been delayed enough already."

* * *

A young girl of about thirteen or so grumbled as her mother fastened her red cloak around her throat, standing and tapping her foot impatiently inside their small cottage.

"Why do I have to go, anyway?" she asked moodily. "Granny lives all the way in Corona."

"Your grandmother is ill and needs food and medicine that she can't get for herself," the girl's mother replied, finishing her task and smoothing down the cloak, sighing. "And she hasn't had any company in forever, so she'll be grateful for you, darling, you know. Besides, Red, you might be able to go to the festival for the princess's birthday. And the pathway through the woods is the fastest way to go."

The girl sighed, too, as she turned around and took the handle of a basket in her hands. She _did_ know why, and she should be glad for a visit to her Granny's. She only wished it wasn't so sudden. And that she didn't have to go alone. But she knew the pathway she was going quite well, as she had gone down it many times before. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad, especially if she reached Corona when the festival began, or at least for part of it. And with a kiss goodbye from her mother, the girl was off, out of her family's cottage, down through the village on the edge of the woods, where she lived, and off into the forest, singing a song she had sung with her mother on previous visits to Granny's, not knowing what lay ahead of her in the woods.

"Into the woods, it's time to go, I hate to leave, I have to go. Into the woods—it's time, and so, I must begin my journey…."

* * *

**A/N: Yes, I did add in a part from Into the Woods (in case you recognized it). Red will play an important role in this story. Remember to review and such! And I shall leave off with… *evil laughter***


	10. Chapter 10: A Shave and a Threat

**A/N: I am SOOOO SORRY for not posting sooner than this. Life went crazy, I got sick, and today, my dad and I have been going back and forth, editing the chapter. It had to be done multiple times. I actually still have a stuffy nose and cough, but hey! No fever! :D Anyway, happy Mother's Day! I hope you all have a good one. :) Thanks for all the 'favorites', followers, and reviews! :D :D :D :D :D And I own nothing but the plot and characters you don't recognize from 'Tangled' or 'Frozen', which sadly includes Hunter. Enjoy! :D**

* * *

**CHAPTER TEN**

**A SHAVE AND A THREAT**

As the visitors from Arendelle had already had their luggage from home taken to their guest rooms when they first arrived, Rapunzel and Eugene showed them to the rooms themselves so that everyone could change. The two then proceeded to go to their own room and change themselves, making sure not to wear anything too casual or fancy, but something somewhere in between. They had just finished brushing their teeth when Rapunzel turned her head to look at Eugene, her hands on the edge of the counter with the wash basin before them.

"You need a haircut," she noted, inspecting her husband more closely. "And a shave."

Eugene raised his eyebrows. "I do?"

"Yes. And I'm going to give you one—right now, before the festival starts," Rapunzel said resolutely. She started opening different drawers, evidently searching for the things she needed.

"Hold up," Eugene said, interrupting his wife's search.

Rapunzel looked up. "What?" she said, as though he had just prevented her from doing the most important thing in the world.

"I do _not_ need a haircut. I'm fine, really!" He smirked. "I think _you're_ the one who needs a haircut, actually."

"That was a really bad joke, you know. You do know that?"

"Indeed I do, Blondie."

"There it is again."

"Yes, there it was, that little thing called sarcasm."

"Really?" Rapunzel put her hands on her hips.

"Yes, really. Now, are you going to let me finish making myself look beautiful before the festival starts or what?" said Eugene.

"Or what. I at _least_ need to give you a shave. Beards look fine on Daddy, but I prefer you with just a goatee."

"I take that as a compliment."

"Stop trying to distract me—it won't work."

"I've known that since the dawn of time, my dear." The ex-thief gave a dazzling smile.

"Come on, you." And before Eugene could object, Rapunzel had grabbed his arm and pulled him into their bedchamber. "Where's your pocketknife?" she asked him once they had both sat down on their bed.

"My what?"

"Pocketknife. Where is it?"

"Why do you want my pocketknife?"

"I'm going to shave your beard off."

"I don't have a beard."

"If you keep this up, I swear that when we get to the actual hair-removing part of this, I will take off all of your chin hairs so that your chin will be empty of anything except for your suspiciously blank and pale skin," Rapunzel stated, giving an evil smile. "And I _promise _some hair will disappear from your face. And I don't break my promises. Ever. Remember?"

"Indeed I do, Blondie," Eugene said warily. "Fine, do it." He reached into a pocket and brought out a small, folded blade and handed it to his wife. "But don't cut me, okay?"

"I won't." Rapunzel winked at him, which did not comfort Eugene in the slightest.

"Promise?"

"Maybe."

"Shoot."

Rapunzel laughed. "You know I'm only joking, right?"

"Maybe…."

"Okay, let's just do this. The festival starts in half an hour."

"Indeed it does," said Eugene.

"Don't talk. Or move your mouth at all." Rapunzel took the pocketknife and, slowly, carefully, but also with a deft, smooth movement that proved many years of practice, started sliding the edge of the blade across Eugene's chin. He held still, almost a statue. Rapunzel had done this with him a million times before, since they had first been married and he had needed a good shaving. He knew he wouldn't turn out ugly. He hoped….

"So how are you, Eugene?" Rapunzel asked suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"Oh, sorry. You can talk a little now, if you want. How are you?"

"Fine…?" Eugene said, slightly confused.

"I mean, really, how are you? Is there anything wrong? Anything you want me to know?" said Rapunzel. She briefly glanced up into Eugene's brown eyes before turning her own back to the task at hand.

"Honestly, I don't really know. I mean, last night was really crazy. Obviously. But…." He breathed in a small, sharp breath, causing Rapunzel's hand to slip a little, though fortunately not affect her work. "Oh, wow. I can't believe I forgot about this."

"Forgot about what?"

"I…." Eugene, for some reason, was a little uncertain about telling Rapunzel about his discovery of the book. He had absolutely no clue why. He always told his wife everything (well, except for that time he had stolen those apples… even as a prince… even for Maximus, who hadn't known where they had come from…), but now…. He wasn't sure he wanted to let Rapunzel know about this.

"Are you okay?" she questioned concernedly. His indecisiveness seemed to show clearly on his face.

"I…" Eugene repeated. He sighed. "Okay, look. You know when I told you about living at the orphanage all those years? About _The Tales of Flynnagin Rider_? Well, yesterday, I—"

He was interrupted by the sound of wailing coming from the direction of Lily and Benjamin's cribs.

"Someone must be hungry," said Rapunzel. "Okay, I'm done now." She stood up, brushed Eugene's face with her hand to get any loose hairs off, and went over to the twins.

"Never mind…" Eugene muttered. He watched as his wife, with a practiced motion, pulled out a crying baby Benjamin and cradled him softly before starting to feed him. He sighed as the sound of more crying came from Lily's crib.

"You can take her. You know she only drinks from a bottle," Rapunzel said.

"Okay." Eugene stood up and stepped over to the crib, taking a plastic bottle off of a shelf in a cabinet nearby. He gently lifted Lily, whose face was red and wet with tears, out of the crib. He then sat back down on the bed and put the bottle to Lily's lips. The crying ceased immediately, as if by magic.

Rapunzel smiled. "There you go."

They sat in silence for a little while, looking at the twins and occasionally each other. Rapunzel broke the silence after a while, not meeting Eugene's eyes but staring at Ben.

"Are we really ready to be parents?" she asked suddenly.

Eugene was surprised. Rapunzel had been the most excited about the prospect of a baby, and seemed to have absolutely no problem with all of the tantrums and such awakening them in the night, along with all the smelly diapers. "Why do you say that?"

"Because… well, I don't know." Rapunzel sighed. "It's just… I mean, yes, we have had these two for six months now, but I still feel so new to this whole parenting thing. And it feels like just yesterday that I came back to my parents, away from the hidden, protected life I had with Mo—I mean, with Gothel."

"Well," Eugene began, scooting closer to her, "Maybe… maybe this is one of those things where you just learn as you go. Maybe you're just supposed to wing it."

"Maybe," sighed Rapunzel. They sat in silence for a little while longer. She broke it sooner than before, saying, "Well, we'd better finish getting ready now. Come on, Eugene."

With that, she stood up, set Benjamin back into his crib, and touched Eugene's shoulder. The ex-thief lifted his eyes from Lily to look at his wife.

"Okay." He stood up as well. They began their final touches on their outfits when he realized something. "Hey, Blondie."

"Hmm?" Rapunzel asked, toying with her hair and looking at her reflection in the tall mirror before her.

"It's almost the five-year anniversary of how we met."

"And?"

"It was nearly your birthday five years ago, when we first met. And in just a few days it will be your _actual_ birthday."

"So?"

"Happy _early_ birthday, Rapunzel!" With that, Eugene picked his wife up by her waist and they began to dance. It was the same dance that they had participated in the day of Rapunzel's eighteenth birthday, almost, except that this time, it was just them, and there was nothing to interrupt their gliding, twirling, jumping, and leaping and separate them. They sang as they danced. And for those many breathtaking moments, everything was simply, amazingly, impossibly perfect.

* * *

Elsa was smoothing her hair into place when she heard a knock on her guest room door, which she was sharing with Kaara due to lack of space. The yellow-haired woman was in the bathroom at the moment, and Elsa was standing in front of a tall, gilded mirror, looking at her reflection. Her white-blond hair was in a soft, thick braid, accented with almost invisible snowflakes. She wore a dress that had many beautiful colors; blues, greens, and deep purples. Her icy blue eyes stared into her the one of her reflection. She looked like a queen, which of course she was, but somehow more so than usual.

"Who is it?" Elsa called, not turning her head but still staring at the mirror.

"Sir Harvey of the Royal Guard, your Majesty."

"Who's there?" Kaara came out of the bathroom, brushing her hair. She had evidently not heard the guard.

He repeated what he had just said before continuing. "May I come in, ma'am?"

Elsa and Kaara briefly exchanged looks before saying together, "Yes!"

The door opened to reveal a stately man in the uniform of a Corona soldier. He bowed. "Queen Elsa, I have just left from the dungeons, where the would-be murderer Hunter Jules has requested relentlessly to see you. I would not have followed with that request, however, he was bothering the other prisoners, and that would have just cause more trouble. But it is your decision whether or not you wish to speak with him right now, ma'am."

"Oh!" Elsa said, surprised. "Um… please give me a minute first."

The soldier named Harvey bowed. "Of course, your Majesty." He stepped out the door behind him.

"Thank you," said Elsa, just as the door closed behind him. She turned to Kaara, with a suddenly uncertain look on her face. "What am I going to do?"

"Well, go down to him, of course," Kaara said, as though it was obvious. "You should face him _sometime_, otherwise he might end up… haunting your memories forever."

Elsa looked even more uncertain. "Really? Are you sure? I mean… after all that happened last night…." She shuddered. The memories were too painful.

"Well, you don't have to go _right now_. You should talk to him sometime. It better be soon, though, because I have a feeling I know what the punishment is for attempted murder. I still think you should go now, though—but it's your decision. Like the guard said, you don't have to if you don't want to. But I can't imagine what you must be feeling right now, so I shouldn't be one to talk."

"You're making it worse."

"Whoops. Okay, then, want my advice? Go down to him. Go see what he wants," Kaara said firmly. "It's what I would do."

"But what about the festival?"

"The festival will be fine without you for a little while. I can go with you, if you want. For some moral support, you know," Kaara replied in a matter-of-fact tone of voice Elsa had never heard her speak with before—as far as she remembered.

"Well… are you certain?" the Snow Queen asked.

"Of course I am. We just have to let the others know, though, in case this takes longer than we thought and they start wondering where we are."

"All right, then." Elsa took a deep breath, steadying herself. "Let's go."

"Nathan will want to come, too," Kaara noted as they started out the door. She had been doing her hair in a quick knot that now sat atop her head like a golden crown. She nodded to the guard, who bowed and started following a little ways behind them.

"Oh, yes, I'm sure he will."

"You sound like it's a problem."

"Yes, well… I—I don't know. I'm just afraid he might make things more difficult," Elsa admitted.

"Having your boyfriend facing the person who attempted to murder you might not be the best idea, apparently?" said Kaara.

"I guess so."

"Then maybe we'll just see if he wants to come, which will be inevitable, and then if he starts going crazy down there, I'll take him away so that you can have a nice, private little chat with Hunter. Oh, and with the other boys, too, because they will undoubtedly want to interrogate him. Or maybe just Eugene, it'll be quicker. He used to be a criminal—he thinks like one, even now, I'm sure, so he'll be able to ask the right questions."

"Then I guess that's what will happen," Elsa said, sighing. Then, after a moment of contemplation, she asked, "Where are we going, anyway?"

"Rapunzel and Eugene. We'll tell them first and grab Eugene, and then word will spread around pretty quickly, I'm sure. Then we'll get Nathan and go." Kaara lead on resolutely, head held high.

"Ah, here we are!" They had arrived at the door to Rapunzel and Eugene's bedchamber. They could hear what sounded like muffled singing through the carved wood. "Want me to knock?"

"Um… sure?" said Elsa in an uncertain tone of voice.

"Okay, then." Kaara did so. The singing stopped abruptly.

"Who is it?" a female voice called through the door.

"Kaara and Elsa!" Kaara said.

The door opened to reveal Rapunzel, dressed in a pink, purple, and gold dress and giving a small smile. "Oh, hi, guys!"

"Hi. We came to deliver a message and request something." Kaara cleared her throat and continued in a falsely proper manner, "Elsa here has been cordially invited to converse with none other than the would-be murderer Hunter. We wish to let you know of this and ask if anyone objects. We would also like to ask if Eugene would like to help interrogate him."

"Excuse me?" Rapunzel said, confused. Then, realizing this might be a bit rude, she added in gentler tones, "Oh, I mean, really? Oh, Elsa, are you sure about this?"

"I… I think so. It's best to get it over and done with, and anyway, we might be able to find out something." Elsa's firmness was growing, and she was becoming more and more certain about what she was doing as she spoke.

"Such as exactly _why_ Hunter stabbed Elsa in the first place," Kaara added. Then she said as an afterthought, "Did you say the blade was black earlier? Like black glass? It might have been obsidian," she noted.

"What?" asked Elsa.

"Never mind. So is Eugene coming?" Kaara asked.

"Uh…."

"Of course I will!" Right at that moment, the said ex-thief popped up behind Rapunzel's shoulder.

"Great! Anywho, Rapunzel, just thought we'd let you know. We'll be off now to our ultimate doom, then. Or his ultimate doom, or something like that. Goodbye," Kaara said in the sort of voice that meant a conversation was over.

"Oh! Okay, um… bye, then." Rapunzel let Eugene pass her by before shutting the door as Kaara turned around.

"Okay, then, off to get Nathan!" she announced.

It was as though Nathan had been waiting extra silently for someone to appear outside his door, for the moment the two girls arrived, they heard very rushed and muffled scrambling inside. And a moment later, the door had been pulled open so hard it made a huge but brief rush of air fly past them.

"Elsa!" he exclaimed, before resolutely grabbing her waist and pulling her into a tight hug.

"Nate!" Elsa said, surprised about this enthusiasm. "Uh… what's up?"

Nathan pulled away from her, shaking his head. "Nothing. I'm just glad you're all right."

"Um, there's no reason for me not to be," Elsa said, giggling uncertainly. Somehow, the events of last night seemed to have temporarily left her mind with one brief but deep glance at Nathan's blue eyes.

"Well, you know, what with the whole Hunter incidence…" said Kaara.

"Oh. Of course."

Nathan stared deeply into Elsa's eyes and she smiled uncertainly. "What about you… you seem a little… um… crazy?"

"Crazy? What? I'm fine. I'm just worried that _you_ aren't." Nathan hugged her again.

"Okay…." _This is… odd. Nate has never treated me like this before. It's like he's… all of a sudden gotten so protective over me. Granted, I did just nearly die, and would have had it not been for Rapunzel, but this is… I don't know… weird? Wait a sec… maybe it won't be such a good idea if he comes with us…._

"Anyway, we wanted to let you know that Hunter wanted to talk to Elsa. You know, dude with the obsidian knife and all," Kaara said to Nathan.

_Wait! No! Kaara!_ Elsa cried out in her mind.

"WHAT!" Nathan exclaimed in such a loud, anger-filled voice that passing servants stared.

"Yes, Nathan, now, we were wondering if you'd like to go with us," Elsa said in a much quieter voice than him.

"OF _COURSE_ I WANT TO GO WITH YOU! WHY WOULD I _NOT_ WANT TO?!" Nathan shouted indignantly.

"Okay, Nate, that's enough of that…." Elsa patted his shoulder uncertainly.

Nathan looked at her and the fire raging in his eyes seemed to go down a little. "Fine. Let's go. Better find out why he did this, anyway."

Elsa looked relieved. "Great."

"Okay, now to Hunter!" Kaara said.

And so, the guard led them to the dungeons. Nathan had started running, or at least walking very quickly, and ahead of the guard. Elsa occasionally had to call him back, since he had gone in the wrong direction, but at last, they arrived at their destination.

It was dark, musty, and cold down there in the dungeons; the soft sounds of grunts and squeakings of rats and mice could be heard echoing ominously through the long tunnels. As Corona wasn't a place to raise many very bad people, there weren't a lot of prisoners there; yet there were prisoners just the same. There was a guard at the opening to the dungeons who lead them to Hunter's cell.

To Elsa, this part of the dungeons was even creepier and scarier than anywhere else in there. Maybe it was because it was deeper underground than she had ever been before, more so than most of the dungeon; maybe it was because this was the place where the man who had tried to murder her stayed, trapped.

She looked through the rusty bars to look at him and shivered; Hunter's eyes were cold green marbles, staring at her unblinkingly the moment she came into view. Even barely an hour here had seemed to suck the very life out of him, and the low, yellow light in here did no help in his pale features.

"Elsa," he said calmly.

"Hunter," she replied softly.

"HUNTER!" Nathan yelled. He ran at the bars and grabbed them, shaking them, the only things stopping him from strangling the man behind them.

"Hello," Hunter said coolly, unflinchingly.

"WHY? WHY DID YOU DO THIS? WHY DID YOU TRY TO KILL ELSA?!" exclaimed Nathan. There is no possible way to describe how he felt; a horrid mix of anger, hatred, and slight jealousy—no, not hatred, it was more than that: loathing. This man had done something with Elsa Nathan felt was only reserved for _him_ before proceeding to _stab_ her. He could not even describe to himself how he felt.

"Why do I need to tell you that? How she _survived_ should be the real question." Hunter turned to Elsa. "How _did_ you survive, anyway?" he asked in a voice so calm, collected, and yet so cold that it sent shivers down her spine.

Elsa was silent, not knowing what to say. But her eyes never strayed from Hunter's glassy green ones.

"Well, you might as well let me know _sometime_ before my execution. You are planning on killing me, right?" Hunter asked, surprised at the slightly shocked look on Elsa's face.

"I…."

"Well, why not? I'm an attempted murderer, anyway. And sometime it'll get out that you survived a complete stabbing. It isn't even close to possible for anyone at all to be able to survive such a thing. Anyone would think it would be foolproof—including me," Hunter said evenly.

"I—" Elsa repeated. Hunter was right. People would _have_ to know that Hunter tried to kill her; why convict someone of almost-murder if no one had nearly died? This was a problem. Rapunzel's parents, from what she gathered, didn't want people knowing about her remaining powers, but what about Rapunzel herself?

"How do you know you're going to be executed?" Kaara questioned suddenly, interrupting Elsa's thoughts. She folded her arms and gave the man behind the bars a somewhat smart look.

Hunter chuckled. Then it started turning into a full-fledged howl of laughter. "You must be joking!" he exclaimed between peals of laughter. "Really, you are stupid! You think that the king won't have a 'would-be murderer' like me executed? Do you even know what you're saying?

"Then again, maybe you aren't so stupid after all. Because you're right. I won't be dying any time soon, especially not at your hands. They'll come to get me; you'll see. Oh, just you wait, you'll see, and then you'll be sorry for harboring _me_. Because when they come, there'll be trouble for the people of Corona. No matter when you execute me, they will come. But if you set me free, they won't touch a soul. Be warned."

Kaara was speechless. Then she shook her head and spoke, because it seemed that no one else was going to speak. "So is that what you wanted to talk to Elsa for?"

"Sort of," Hunter said. His face was expressionless, and had been ever since they had arrived there.

Eugene took a deep breath before stepping up to the bars. "So, if you're done interrogating Elsa, we've got to ask you a few questions."

"Fire away," said Hunter in a monotone voice.

"First of all: Who do you have working for you?" Eugene asked aggressively, his face up very close to Hunter's.

"No one," he replied.

"Well, then, you've gotta be working with _someone_, considering what you said earlier. Who are you working with?" questioned the ex-thief.

"That is none of your business."

"_None of our business_! WHY, YOU—!" Nathan then used a word best not repeated anywhere.

"Language!" Kaara exclaimed.

"Whatever. Now, Hunter, you are going to tell us exactly _who_ you are working with and exactly _why_ you tried to kill Elsa!"

"And if I don't?"

"Well, your punishment might just be a whole lot worse," said Eugene. "So tell us, now!"

"Or I swear I will break those perfect cheekbones of yours!" Kaara added.

"My cheekbones?"

"Don't try and change the subject!"

"I wasn't."

"_Anyway_," interrupted Eugene, "Tell us!"

Hunter sighed a very long, very deep sigh. "All right, then, as you'll just keep bugging me about it until I relent—" Kaara and Eugene gave similar looks of outrage "—I shall tell you."

Everyone held their breaths.

"I know a person. A person who will help me on the way to greatness. And there is an army on my side that is the likes of which you wouldn't have dreamed. And they will win over you—_we_ will win."

There was absolute, complete silence.

"Tell us more!" Eugene snarled, breaking the silence.

"I have no reason to and I won't."

"YOU WILL! YOU WILL TELL US WHY YOU TRIED TO KILL ELSA! OR ELSE, I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU!" Nathan suddenly ran at the bars and started shaking them, trying to break them, trying to get to the person who almost became Elsa's murderer and throttle him.

"I couldn't care less."

There was an even longer silence than before.

"What is _wrong_ with you?!" Kaara exclaimed.

"Something you'll never understand."

"But why did you try to kill Elsa?" said Eugene, trying to keep from exploding, trying to keep his cool.

"So I won't feel this way anymore."

"You won't feel _what_ way?" Nathan snapped aggressively.

"Like nothing. Absolutely nothing."

"And who are you working with? Why aren't you telling us?" asked Eugene.

"Maybe you'll find out in due time."

"Ugh!" Eugene's temper was nearly reaching the breaking point. He knew that Hunter wasn't going to tell him anything more, and it infuriated him.

"But why did you want to talk to Elsa, then? It seems like there's something more," said Kaara.

"Well, I _did_ want to know exactly _how_ she survived the stabbing, but as you seem to not be letting me in on that particular secret—" Hunter leaned in a little closer, staring into Elsa's eyes intently "—I just have these words: beware the moon, Elsa."

With that, he sank back into the shadows, a cold silence filling the dungeon, fear gripping Elsa like an iron claw, Hunter's words echoing in her mind over and over again….

_Beware the moon, Elsa._

* * *

The girl called Red skipped along through the woods, never looking back but always forward, towards her destination. She had a smile on her face; the birds were singing, the path was clear, and she would be seeing her grandmother soon. She was happy.

Unknown to her, in the shadows crouched a creature with eyes black as night, staring at her. They never blinked. The creature growled softly, waiting, waiting for something, always waiting….

* * *

**Remember, review and give a gal a nice, warm hug and it'll make my day! :D**


	11. Chapter 11: The Festival

**A/N: Forgive me for not writing in forever. Life just got busier, and it took forever to get the editing done…. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews and your support in general! You guys are AMAZING! :D BTW, I only own my own characters and the general plot of this story. Enjoy! :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

**THE FESTIVAL**

After that rather unpleasant encounter with Hunter, Elsa, Kaara, Eugene, and Nathan were escorted out of the dungeons by one of the soldiers down there. They went back to their rooms, all feeling somewhat disturbed, and a little bit scared. But the festival was starting in five minutes, and they needed to head out of the castle and to the town square by the time it did. Those who were not present at the interrogation asked what had happened, but were denied their wish, told that they would learn about it "later." And so, they all ventured through the castle and out the large doors.

Rapunzel's parents were already there. They smiled and greeted them happily when the younger royals arrived, and then, the festival began. People began to fill the town square, and so did noise. It was filled with laughter and music and people calling out to one another. There were booths of games and food and little trinkets for sale. There were purple banners with the emblem of the sun on them and paintings of Rapunzel and large number twenty-fours in honor of the princess herself and her twenty-fourth birthday. Children were dancing and playing games, parents were purchasing different little things, and everyone was having the time of their lives within five minutes. Well, almost everyone, anyway.

"Hey, what's wrong, Elsa?" Rapunzel asked, walking over to her. She had noticed her cousin had her head low and was standing alone nearby where Mary and Nya were playing a game at a booth.

"Nothing…" Elsa replied softly, avoiding looking at Rapunzel.

"What happened down in the dungeons with Hunter?" her cousin relented.

Elsa sighed. She hesitated before looking up at the Corona princess, her soft blue eyes wide. "I… it was torture. To say the least."

Rapunzel nodded. "Yeah?"

"He… he… just _looking_ at him, hearing his voice… it made me think of what might have happened if you hadn't… if I had…." Elsa stopped. She couldn't go on.

Rapunzel stepped closer to her cousin and gave her a big hug. "Don't worry, Elsa. You're fine now. Nothing like that is ever going to happen again—I promise."

"It's happened twice already, though. I've had two near-death experiences that would've killed me if not for magic in less than a year," said Elsa.

"True. But that first time, you almost died _because_ of magic." Rapunzel frowned. "So, if not for magic, you wouldn't have almost died that first time, and if not for magic, you wouldn't have gotten into that situation at all. And if not for magic, you would have died this time, even though it wasn't magic that almost killed you. Strange, huh?"

"I guess so," Elsa replied, slightly confused.

"Well, come on!" Rapunzel said suddenly, grabbing her cousin's arm. "Let's go enjoy the festival!" She dragged Elsa off, passing by Eugene, who had baby Lily in his arms. Benjamin was in a clever little contraption made by the ex-thief himself so that he or Lily or sometimes both of them wouldn't have to be carried around all the time in Eugene's or Rapunzel's arms. It was a sort of basket, which held Ben, who was upright, to Maximus's side. The basket, shaped to fit the baby, was strapped to the horse.

Eugene, meanwhile, was standing next to Kristoff, who was in the middle of a sort of archery game, where you had three arrows to shoot and three tries to get as close to the center of a round target as you could. Each ring on the target counted for a certain amount of points—the outer ring for one point, the next for five, the third for ten, the fourth for twenty-five, and the small red dot in the center for fifty. Two arrows were stuck in there already; one was in the ten-point ring, and the other barely in the twenty-five one. Sven stood nearby, next to Maximus. They seemed to be conversing in a language known only to them.

Kristoff had just released his third and final arrow, which had missed the target completely and hit a stack of hay behind it.

Eugene whistled. "Missed it by a mile—at least." He smirked.

Kristoff glowered at him. "You try, then. Whoever gets the most points wins. I've already got thirty-five points."

"With pleasure." Eugene stepped up to the man at the booth, who smiled at him before taking the small gold coin the ex-thief offered him. Eugene then took the three arrows and bow and stepped back as the man before him took out the arrows Kristoff had shot in there.

He carefully set Lily in the basket next to Ben before taking an arrow and setting it in the bow. He then pulled it back, twisted his neck, and then let the arrow fly away from him. It landed in the twenty-five point spot.

"No bad, eh?" he said to Kristoff.

"Totally. It's like magic, how good you are," the ice harvester replied sarcastically.

Eugene smirked before letting loose another arrow. It earned him another five points.

"Wow. You're a natural," said Kristoff, rolling his eyes.

Eugene gave him a foul look. Then, taking a deep breath and staring his brown eyes into the target, he fired the third arrow. It flew through the air and seemed to scrape the side of the target, but then sank itself deeply into a stack of hay.

"Look who's talking now, big-mouth," Kristoff said.

Eugene scowled. "Fine. You win."

"Wanna do it again?"

"Why not? I'd like to see that smug look wiped off your face with one of these arrows."

"Hey, I only beat you by ten points," said Kristoff.

"You're admitting that?"

"Excuse me." The booth man cleared his throat. "We're starting to get a line here, move along, please, if you're finished."

"Let's do it, then," said Kristoff.

"You're on," Eugene said with a grin.

* * *

"Nathan!" Rapunzel exclaimed as she ran right into him.

"Rapunzel! Have you seen—Elsa!" Nathan pulled the Snow Queen into a very tight squeeze the moment he saw her.

"Nate!" she said, trying her best not to suffocate under his grip. "Nate, what are you—?"

"Wait! Rapunzel, didn't you say there'd be guards protecting Elsa?" he asked, interrupting Elsa.

"Well, I said… umm… my mother might want…" Rapunzel said bemusedly.

"Well, then, where are they?" Nathan questioned suspiciously.

"There aren't any," Rapunzel admitted.

"Well, get them!" Nathan exclaimed. "Elsa needs as much protection as possible!"

"But… she doesn't _really_…" Rapunzel said in a small voice.

"Yes, she _does_!" Nathan retaliated. "You heard what Hunter said down there! '_Beware the moon_.'"

"I wasn't down there with you," Rapunzel replied pointedly.

"Oh, that's right." Nathan paused. "But she still needs _protection_!" he nearly shouted. "And he still said that!"

"I'm standing right here, guys," Elsa said awkwardly.

"I've noticed," said Nathan. "And I've also noticed that you don't have anyone but me to protect you right now, so Rapunzel, _go get someone! Now_!"

"All right, all right," the princess said exasperatedly. She backed away from them.

"What was that for?" asked Elsa. "I don't think I really need _that_ much protection…."

"Yes, you do! You've had two near-death experiences already; you aren't having any more!" Nathan said firmly. He then proceeded to look around as though for something he'd lost. "Darn, where'd that knife go…?"

"Nathan!"

"Ah, here it is!" Nathan pulled out a sharp dagger in a sheath of leather from a pocket.

Elsa sighed. "Is all this really necessary?"

"I should think so," said a deep voice.

Elsa turned around to see Rapunzel's father come up from behind her. "Oh! Uncle Benjamin! I—what did you say?"

"I said, 'I should think so,'" the king replied softly. He continued, "Elsa, I don't believe the entire meaning of a queen almost being murdered has sunk in yet. Yes, I know you were the one to actually almost die, but you seem to not realize that you must be protected. Some of the guard should be coming soon. We can't risk anything like this happening again. I can't lose any of my little girls again," he finished gravely.

"Oh, I—Uncle Benjamin, I… I don't know what to say," Elsa said softly.

"They will be here quite soon. Prepare yourself, Elsa; they can be a lively bunch sometimes, the royal guards of Corona." King Benjamin winked at her before turning to walk away.

"Oh," Elsa said quietly to the retreating back of her uncle.

"See?! He's right! And the sooner they get here, the better," Nathan fumed.

"Maybe," Elsa sighed. "Wait, what did he mean by 'a lively bunch?'"

"I don't know, but they can't be any livelier than that, can it?" Nathan gestured towards a raised platform a little ways off, where Hook Hand was playing a song whilst trying to fend of Shorty, who seemed to be trying to play the piano as well.

"Indeed." Elsa smiled. Nathan seemed back to himself—and it was strange how he had just been acting so… overprotectively. He never acted that way. Or hadn't, at least, until now. What was up with that?

Elsa and Nathan stood there, watching as Hook Hand was jabbing at Shorty with his elbows, trying to keep him away from the piano he was playing on a platform nearby. Shorty, meanwhile, looked like he was about to dive off of the said piano, which was where he was currently standing, and into the sea of people below. The guards didn't come for a while, which was fairly strange. Eventually, when the man with a hook for a hand was on the point of strangling the man that was drunk, they decided to wander around for a bit. That was when the guards finally appeared.

They proved to be lively, at the very least. They were a group of around half a dozen young men, all with the outfit of a royal guard on. But they didn't quite seem to fit the description "royal guard." They all fell over, laughing with one another, joking with one another, and ultimately just messing around with one another. They all had a lot of pimples. They took one look at Elsa and gave a simultaneous whistle, staring at her.

"We're here at your service, your royal majesty!" the pimpliest one exclaimed, bowing very low. The others followed suit. "We're here to protect you from the unknown dangers of the world, Queen Elsa!"

Elsa gave a stiff curtsy. "Yes. Er… thank you."

"No problem, majesty!" a guard with lots and lots of freckles and bright red hair exclaimed.

"All right, then…" Elsa said uncertainly. "Um… come on, Nathan, let's go… do something."

"All right," said Nathan. "How about a game? A nice, safe game…."

"How 'bout that one over there!" one of the guards shouted.

Elsa looked in the direction of his pointing finger. It was a dunking tank game. Mary and Kaara were over there, and she saw with slight surprise the latter hitting the target right in the middle. The woman in the tank fell in the water immediately.

Nathan nodded. "Yes. That'll be nice and safe."

Elsa stared daggers at him.

"What?" Nathan asked innocently.

"'Nice and safe?' What are you talking about, Nate?" she asked.

"Well, you know, what with last night and earlier today—"

"Do you honestly think I'm not able to handle myself, Nathan White?" Elsa said testily.

"Well… no, but—I mean—"

"Nathan, I can handle myself. I don't need you to protect me to such an extreme," said Elsa in a hard voice.

"Well, all right, then," Nathan replied, quailing under the look the Snow Queen was giving him. "Let's just go."

"Yes, let's." And without giving the guards, who had been watching with curiosity, a single warning, Elsa had grabbed Nathan's arm and stalked off with him to the dunking tank.

They had just stepped foot in front of the man in charge of it when a blur of white flashed past them, stopping right in front of Nathan and Elsa. As a matter of fact, it turned out to be two different blurs: Olaf and Summer.

"I wanna get dunked!" exclaimed Summer.

"So do I!" added Olaf.

"Uh… Olaf, Summer, I didn't know that you didn't already know this, but a dunking tank at a festival is for people to dunk other people in there—not the other way around," said Elsa.

"Really? I could've sworn that was how it went…" muttered Olaf.

"Can we still get dunked?" Summer asked.

"You might melt," Nathan said pointedly.

"No, we won't!" Olaf exclaimed. "Not with our _personal flurries_!" he and Summer finished together.

Elsa sighed. "It's not our decision. Ask him," she said, pointing to the dunking booth man.

"Well," he said slowly. "I'm not sure how Miss Kaitlyn here would feel about that…." He nodded to the lady in a "top-of-the-line" bathing suit, sitting inside the dunking dank, tripping above the pool of water with a sour look on her red face.

"Give the snowpeople a turn. I'm sick of this already, and we've only been at it for half an hour," she grumbled.

"Well… all right, then," sighed the booth man. "Who's first?"

"Me!" Olaf and Summer shouted at the same time. They both giggled before beginning to insist that each other go first, which took up a lot of time, until finally, one of the people waiting in line behind Elsa and Nathan yelled out, "Come on! We're waiting here!" The booth man had Summer hurry inside, with a dripping Kaitlyn walking past them with a relieved look on her face, evidently to change into some nicer clothes before her turn came up again.

"I'll…" the booth man started to say, but Kaitlyn was gone. "…call you over when these guys are done," he muttered. Then he turned to Summer, who was sitting upright on the seat keeping her up from the water. "All right, what's your name?" he asked.

"Summer!" the snowlady replied happily, her "personal flurry" hovering, ever-present above her head.

"All right, Summer," said the booth man, "the way this thing works is basically, if the ball hits the target, your seat falls out from underneath you and you fall into the water. You can do this for however long you want, because I don't think Kaitlyn will be back anytime soon, and this is a voluntary job, so she'll be happy for now. Any questions?"

"Uh, yeah," said Olaf, raising his stubby stick hand in the air. "What if I have to pee?"

"Excuse me?" said the booth man, baffled.

"You said, 'Any questions?', and I asked you a question," replied the snowman, as though it were obvious.

"I was talking to her," said the booth man.

"Oooh! Oh-kay, then!" Olaf said, nodding his head as though he understood whilst simultaneously rubbing his head in confusion. "Wait a sec—I don't have to pee! I'm a snowman! Never mind!"

The booth man shook his head. "All right, who's going first?" he asked Elsa and Nathan, picking up three balls from a tray connected to the dunking tank.

"I will," said Nathan, walking up stiffly.

"All right, then." The booth man handed him the three balls. "That'll be one, please," he said.

Nathan took out a coin from a pocket in his pants and handed it to the man. He then took a step back, eyes darting from the target to Elsa and back again, and then threw one of the balls at the target. It hit the beam connecting the target to the tank, which jiggled a bit, but that was the only difference he made. Nathan sucked in a breath through his teeth, muttering, "darn it," under his breath.

"Two more goes, then, young man," said the booth man.

Nathan took a deep breath before throwing the ball again. It missed once more. And then he threw the final ball. It went soaring straight over the dunking tank and to another booth nearby. They could hear someone saying "ow" where the ball had presumably landed.

"Whoops…" he muttered. Then he turned around and breathed a sigh of relief. "That wasn't you."

"What?" asked Elsa.

"You weren't the one I hit."

"Well, that much is obvious."

"Your turn," said Nathan.

"Fine. But what about the other ball?" Elsa inquired.

"I'll go get it," Nathan replied resolutely.

"All right. Do you even know where it went?"

"Over there." Nathan pointed in the direction of where he had heard the "ow."

"Uh, I've got another ball right here, guys," said the booth man pointedly.

"Well, then, after Elsa throws her balls, I'll go and get that other ball," said Nathan.

"Then come on!" Elsa said in a very slightly frustrated voice, crossing her arms.

"Here you go, majesty," the booth man said, handing her three balls.

"Thank you," said Elsa, nodding at him before taking a step backwards. She breathed deeply, in and out, in and out, before stepping back once more and throwing the ball at the target with a lot of force. It missed, sailing past the dunking tank. Another "ow" could be heard from over there, this time louder and more insistent.

"Whoops," Elsa said in a small voice. Then, with more care than before, she threw the second ball. It hit the tank of water.

"Whoa! That was a close one!" noted Summer in a muffled voice from within the tank.

"Indeed," muttered Elsa. She then prepared herself for the final throw before winding up and letting the last ball fly out of her hands. It sailed towards the target, and after a heart stopping moment, hit it right in the center. Summer fell into the water with a splash.

"Good job, my queen!" said the booth man in awe, helping Summer up.

Elsa smiled. "Thank you."

"All right, now to get _both_ of those balls!—" said Nathan "—_before_ anyone else gets hurt!"

But before he had taken a step, a disgruntled-looking Kaitlyn had rounded a corner, rubbing her head, walking towards them with the two balls in hand.

"Here," she said, frowning. "Be more careful next time," she added grumpily.

"Sorry," Elsa and Nathan said at the same time.

"Whatever." Kaitlyn slouched off in the opposite direction. "If any more flying balls come my way, I won't be coming back!" she threatened over her shoulder.

"Yeah… you won't be coming back anytime soon, anyway," muttered the booth man before turning to Elsa and Nathan. "All right, you can go now. Next person in line, step up! And please, try to aim correctly," he added to himself quietly.

Elsa pulled Nathan aside and the guards followed behind. "Come on. Let's go… I don't know, find someone else. I'm hungry."

"Me, too. But no hot food. I don't want you to get burned."

Elsa gave Nathan a very fierce look.

"What!" he said indignantly.

"Really?" asked Elsa.

"What, are you some sort of 'Snow Queen?'" said Nathan smartly. Then his expression turned to one of someone who just found out they said something very stupid. "Oh."

Elsa gave him a very hard, very 'are-you-out-of-your-mind' look. "Nathan White, did you really just ask that?"

"I—uh…." Nathan was saved an explanation of his odd behavior by the appearance of a huffing and somewhat red-faced Anna.

"What's up with you?" asked Elsa, bemused.

"_Kristoff_," replied Anna stiffly.

"What's wrong with Kristoff?" said Elsa.

"He—is—so—just—so—un-understanding!" exclaimed Anna.

"What do you mean?" Elsa questioned.

"He—just—ugh!—doesn't—know—his—own—wife!" Anna said, so angry she could barely speak.

"How is that?" said Elsa.

"I—don't!—oh, forget it." Anna sighed.

"Did he say something? Did he do something? What happened?" Elsa said.

"He… he—_he_—HE—HE _INSULTED_ ME!" Anna burst out. "He insulted me _behind my back_!" she added. Her face was getting redder by the second. "How—how _dare_ he?—me—his own _wife_—HE INSULTED ME!"

"Whoa, whoa, calm down, Anna." Elsa put her hands on her younger sister's shoulders. Anna looked up at her, still red in the face, but she seemed to have calmed down a bit. "What happened?" Elsa asked slowly.

"Kristoff _insulted_ me!"

"Breathe," Elsa said gently. "Take a deep breath. Here. I learned this from Papa when he was trying to help me control my powers. It helped sometimes. It's called 'five, six, seven.' Breath in for five seconds, hold it for six seconds, and breath out for seven seconds. Just _breathe_."

Anna stared into Elsa's icy blue eyes and started doing what she was being told. One, two, three, four, five… and so on, and after doing this a few times, she was calm enough to tell her sister what she was about to explode for without actually exploding.

"All right, I'm calm now."

"Then please tell me what's wrong."

"Okay, so you know how earlier this morning when I was pretending to be asleep but really wasn't?" Anna began quickly.

"Yes," said Elsa.

"Well, earlier, when I had just woken up, I heard Kristoff and Eugene and Nathan talking, and I decided to keep my eyes closed and still pretend to be asleep and all that, you know, so then I heard them talking, and they were talking about _me_, and Eugene was asking about me, and Kristoff was _insulting_ me, and Nathan wasn't saying anything to back me up—" she threw a glare at Nathan "—and then I was so angry and pretended to be asleep for the rest of the time. And _then_, just now, I was talking with Kristoff and told him about his rudeness, and he just made me so _angry_!" she finished. She said this all so fast, it was hard for Elsa to keep up.

"Oh," the Snow Queen said in a small voice. "Hmm…. Did you actually hear them say your name?" she asked, not noticing that Nathan was trying to speak.

"Well, no… but Kristoff was talking about me, and it sounded just like me!" exclaimed Anna, jabbing herself with a finger with each of the last three words.

"What exactly did he say about you?" Elsa asked.

"Uh… he said that… that I was a 'heck of a gal to live with,' or maybe Eugene said that, but then Kristoff was like, 'yeah, she's adorable _to an extent_, and not great at all, and outgoing, super crazy, and stubborn.'" said Anna, using different voices that did not sound in the slightest like Eugene or Kristoff.

"Hmm…." Elsa waved Nathan off, for he looked like he was about to say something again. He fell silent as she thought. Then she said, "That isn't necessarily… _you_, though, I don't think…."

"Are you _crazy_?!" Anna nearly shouted. "That… that like totally _defines_ me—Anna! I mean, the name 'Anna' fits perfectly into that description! You know?!"

"Perhaps," Elsa said slowly. "But it sounds like you misinterpreted some of these things. And… being crazy and stubborn aren't always bad things."

"Yeah…" Anna muttered, arms hanging limply by her side.

"Anna!" Nathan exclaimed suddenly, down with being polite and interrupting the sisters' conversation. "We weren't talking about you!"

Anna's head jerked in Nathan's direction. "You weren't?

"No, we weren't!" Nathan replied. "Anna, we were talking about—"

But he was interrupted as they heard a loud barking sound coming from nearby. It was followed by growls and snarls. They all turned around to see a little girl with black hair facing a vicious looking dog, whose teeth were bared and eyes were bright. It looked like it was about to attack the girl—and that was was very, very bad.

"Wha—?" Wind whipped past Nathan as Elsa and Anna ran to the little girl's aid. "WAIT, ELSA, NO!" He ran after them, only to collide right with Elsa's back. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DO—?!" But he stopped midsentence, because Elsa had turned around with a fierce look on her face before taking a deep breath and freezing the dog, which seemed to be about to pounce, to the spot.

"WAIT!"

Mary came charging into view, running in the direction of the dog. It was frozen, literally, in its near-pouncing position, inside a block of ice.

"UNFREEZE IT! NOW!" Mary shouted at Elsa.

"Bu—" Elsa hesitated. This dog had been about to attack a little girl, who was currently sobbing before the dog. "All right…." She lifted the ice off of the animal, which shook its head, shivering and backing away.

"Wait…" Mary said. She gently reached forward and, after a moment of staring into the dog's eyes, started stroking it softly. "There you go…" she whispered to it. The dog licked her face. "Nothing to be afraid of…."

"Fluffy!" cooed the little girl, whose crying had ceased the moment the dog had unfrozen. She ran up to the dog but stopped as Mary held a hand up to her.

"Hold on just one moment, sweetie," she said gently. "Let him calm down first."

"Okay," said the little girl. She didn't take a step further, but watched with interest as Mary calmed the dog down.

"You can come pet him now. He's calm enough," Mary said a little bit later.

The little girl came up to her and the dog.

"So what happened?" Mary inquired of her.

"Fluffy's my dog," the little girl explained. "We just got him. He got mad for some reason and started growling. I tried to help, but he just kept being so mean!"

"Hmm," said Mary concernedly. "Well, he should be calm now. If he starts doing that again… let me know. I'll either be here or back at the castle. Okay?"

The little girl nodded. "Okay."

Mary smiled. "Well, then, go on and enjoy the festival."

The little girl beamed back. "I will! Thank you!" With that, she ran off, the dog following close behind at her heels.

"What was that all about?" Anna asked of no one in particular.

Elsa shook her head. "I don't really know. It seems that Mary is just really good with animals."

"I've always been that way." Mary had walked up to them without them noticing. "I've always loved animals, and they… they always seem to love me back."

"Cool!" Anna said after a moment of hesitation.

"Yeah," Mary agreed softly, watching as the little girl with her dog walked away, the latter with a new spring in its step and its tongue hanging out, its head turned towards the former. "Yeah, cool."

"So, as I was saying—" re-began Nathan, but he was interrupted yet again as someone in the crowd shouted, "Let's dance!" Musicians on the street began playing their violins and other instruments, and before anyone knew it, they were all caught up in a very lively and blissful dance. And then, with all the music and song, Nathan forgot what he was going to say to Anna, and even hours and hours later, his mind had been rushed away with the whirlwind of happiness emanating from the people around him, all enjoying the festival. Much later in the afternoon, just as people were setting up for a new game that would involve many people and a lot of fun, he had still not remembered.

* * *

As Little Red Riding Hood skipped along through the forest, she heard the leaves rustle gently behind her. She stopped, looking around and wondering what was making the noise. She shrugged and continued on her journey. Perhaps it was just the wind.

Just at that very moment, something leapt onto the path in front of her.


	12. Chapter 12: Panball

**A/N: Hey, guys! New chapter time!—and MUCH sooner than the last couple of times. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this one—I did (immensely!) when I was writing it. And by the way, part of this game in here was thought up by my dad—so the credit for a portion of it… goes to him. Also… please, please, please… review! It inspires me to write more than when you… don't… review. So… yeah! Tell me what you think! But anyways… on with the story! :) BTW, you know what I own.**

* * *

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

**PANBALL**

Actually, the game being held was only for the royal family. It was nearly sunset, and the festival had ended; the villagers had all gone back to their homes, ready for a nice rest before another long day at the festival, which would last about a week, the final day of it being Rapunzel's birthday. Only Rapunzel's parents, Eugene, and Elsa knew exactly what this mysterious game was, and the others were impatient to see what this was all about—Rapunzel especially.

So, leaving the still-set-up festival and (in Elsa and Nathan's case) royal guards behind them, the extended family set off to a place that turned out to be somewhat far beyond the palace gardens. It was a very green, very grassy, very flat field, one Rapunzel had explored many times before after being reunited with her parents, but never really thought about all that much. Maximus and Sven followed close behind, the twins still hanging onto the former. Pascal sat on the reindeer's head—they had since become friends with each other. The king and queen soon joined them, both smiling broadly. They both held very large, brown bags, which seemed to clank mysteriously and more loudly as they got closer.

"Hello," said Queen Primrose warmly. "Had a good day so far?"

"The best!" exclaimed Nya, jumping up and down happily.

The queen's smile widened. "I'm glad!"

Rapunzel's green eyes seemed to sparkle as she said, "It's been wonderful, Mother."

"How…_ wonderful_." Queen Primrose laughed with her daughter.

They all stood in silence for a moment, watching the sun starting to sink through the sky, and then Kaara spoke.

"Okay, no more keeping us in suspense. What's this game you've got planned for us?" she asked, smiling slightly.

"Well, now's as good a time as any to reveal it! Elsa, would you do the honors?" said Rapunzel's mother.

Elsa nodded, giving a small smile. "Yes, Auntie Primrose." Her smile turned into a slightly mischievous smirk as she turned around, her arms stretched out in front of her. She then waved them and at once, out of her hands shot ice. It formed into a crystal clear platform, which had arches of smooth ice on the sides. They stopped in the center of the two sides facing the group. The platform was huge, with snowflake designs all over it. Two hoops stood on either side, held upward by small platforms of ice.

Rapunzel gasped. "What… what is all this? Elsa?"

The Snow Queen smiled. "Just wait and see."

Rapunzel turned to her parents. "What is all this?" she repeated.

"Well, you knew we were planning on having a game for you," said the king, "and this is what we will be playing on!"

"But what game is it?"

"A game that I thought up myself, actually," said Eugene.

Rapunzel turned to look at him. "You did? When did you think that up?"

"Never mind that, they have to teach us how to play it!" said Kaara.

King Benjamin chuckled. "Yes, we do. Rider, would you do the honors?"

Eugene rolled his eyes. "Sure thing, 'majesty'." He cleared his throat and looked around at the surrounding group. "So, you see this field of ice over here?" He nodded toward the platform. "This is where we will be playing the game I call…." He paused for "dramatic effect." "…panball!"

His face fell. These people were not looking as amazed as he had hoped. He cleared his throat again before continuing, "So, on to how you play it. Benjamin I, Primrose II, would you do the honors?"

The king and queen both nodded before emptying the contents of their bags. Out tumbled a bunch of clattering, clanging, metal—

"Frying pans!" Rapunzel exclaimed with surprised delight.

"But what do frying pans have to do with anything?" inquired Kaara.

"Well, you see," said Eugene, waving his hand towards the said cooking utensils, "these are our tools for the game. Each of us will get one of these frying pans to try to whack a ball into one of those hoops."

"And…?" said Kaara pointedly.

"And… you know what, I'm just gonna start at the beginning." Eugene sighed. "So, we split up into two teams. Doesn't really matter how many people you have on each of them, as long as it's more than one—then again, maybe one-on-one would be okay. Anyway, everyone gets a frying pan. There is one ball. You get a point by getting the ball into one of the hoops on the opposing team's side. Got that so far?"

Everyone nodded or said some form of the word "yes."

"Okay, great. So anyway, there is one 'goalie' on each team. He or she tries to keep the other team from scoring by using their pan (or hands) to catch the ball or stop it from rolling through the hoops and earning a point. But catching it is not really recommended, unless you use your frying pan. So, in recap—try to score as much as you can before dark!" Eugene finished.

Everyone stared at him. Then, Nya started jumping up and down in excitement again.

"Ooh, I can't _wait_ to play!" she said enthusiastically.

"Great!" Eugene said in a somewhat relieved tone of voice, putting his hands together in a final sort of way. "So, ready to start playing?"

The group before him agreed in some sort of way, but then Nathan asked, "But what if we slip and fall on the ice? Someone could get hurt!"

"Oh, yes, about that… Elsa?" said Eugene.

After briefly glaring at Nathan, Elsa nodded again and, with a wave of her hands, had conjured ice skates on everyone, including herself.

"Ooh, they're _beautiful_!" exclaimed Kaara.

"They're lovely!" added Rapunzel.

"I _love_ them!" cooed Nya.

Mary stayed silent but smiled, nodding contentedly.

"Great, then let's start!" said Anna suddenly, her face set and not smiling. She stomped over to the frying pans and picked one up. Then, overbalancing, she fell over; luckily, in was on the soft grass, and not the pile of frying pans beside her. She stood up wobblingly and brushed herself off before rejoining the others.

"Yeah!" said Nya. She proceeded to go through pretty much the same process as her adopted older sister, though not as grumpily.

"Maybe I give them those later…" muttered Elsa, but everyone else was starting to get frying pans as well.

They were all starting to walk out onto the platform when Mary noted suddenly, "What about a ball?"

Eugene froze. So did his face. "Uh… I sorta forgot about that."

"Then what are we going to use for one?" asked Kaara, crossing her arms.

"Erm… I really don't know." For once, Eugene was all out of ideas.

"Maybe Elsa can make one!" exclaimed Nya.

"Hmm… not bad, Nya, not bad," said Eugene, nodding his head slowly. He turned to Elsa. "How about it, Elsa?"

Elsa paused for half a second before saying, "I can try, I suppose. I mean, I once made houses made of ice that were literally not cold at all, so it can't be that hard, can it?"

She took a deep breath before forming a ball that looked like it was made of glass in her hands. "There."

"But will it be hard enough?" said Kaara.

"Let's see…." Eugene took the ball from Elsa before setting it on the ground and whacking it very hard with his frying pan. It shattered into several cold pieces.

"Yeah… I don't think that worked," said Kaara, smirking slightly.

"I'll try again, then." Elsa made another ball. Kristoff hit it with his frying pan this time, and, after a few blows, it, too, broke apart. She tried again. And again. After a few more rounds, she finally made one hard enough that Anna's very hard and very stubborn blows could not break.

"There we go," Elsa said happily, holding it up to the sun's dying rays. "Perfect." She paused a moment, considering the small ice ball.

"Or maybe not so perfect." With a wave of her hand, swirling snow filled the ball like a tiny snowstorm.

"Wait a moment…." Nya took the ball from Elsa and stared at it. She said dramatically, "Ooh… I can see… someone's future… it's… oh, wait!" She giggled suddenly, dropping her drama-ness. "It's just a dog!"

"What?" said Anna in a confused tone of voice.

"Ooh, Nya, you could be a fortune teller!" said a voice from down below.

Everyone looked in that general direction and saw a very certain snowman and snowlady.

"Olaf! Summer!" exclaimed Rapunzel.

"You forgot us," said Summer simply.

"Yes… we did indeed. How did you find us?" asked Kaara.

"Well, there was a pretty obvious trail for us to follow, did you see?" said Olaf. He pointed his stick arm in the direction of where the younger royalty had gotten to the field. Indeed, there was a thin layer of frost on the grass there in a long, narrow path that could have only been made by one person.

"Elsa?" Rapunzel asked, in a very slightly timid voice.

Elsa remained silent for a moment. "Yes, umm…."

"Is there something wrong?" Kaara inquired.

"No… I… later." Elsa shook her head. "We've got a game to play." With that, she stepped up onto the platform, her long, pale braid swinging off of her shoulder and down her back.

"Well, then let's begin!" said Kaara decidedly, following her friend up onto the ice.

"Yeah!" Olaf agreed, joining the two young women.

After that, everyone walked up onto the platform with them—even the king and queen—but the animals stayed firmly on the ground.

* * *

In truth, there was something wrong, however much Elsa tried to convince herself that there wasn't. It was Nathan. All this sudden overprotectiveness that seemed to have overcome him today… she didn't like it. She was perfectly capable of protecting herself—perhaps more so than others (she did have the powers of ice and snow, after all). Elsa had been pondering this as she and the others had walked through the field, and Nathan's constant mutters and attempts to keep her "safe" along the way did not help with her very mixed feelings.

And this was not the Nathan she had met barely six months before, not the Nathan White she had fallen in love with. Wait… she was admitting that to herself? Wow.

The world worked in many strange ways, but, in Elsa's uncertain mind, the strangest thing she had ever come across was the feelings she felt when she thought about the Nathan that was not the overprotective one she knew now.

* * *

"Wait a sec… how did you not notice that ice when you came over here?" Rapunzel asked her parents as she helped her mother up.

"Well, we came from the direction of the castle. I suppose you just came straight from the festival," Primrose replied.

Rapunzel nodded.

"So, let's figure out who's on which team!" Eugene said to the group at large, putting his hands together decisively.

"I wanna be with Mary!" Nya said stoutly.

"Easy enough. But let's see… er…. Okay, how about this. Kristoff, you and I are the captains, and we take turns picking our teammates," said Eugene.

"Okay." Kristoff shrugged. "Who first?"

"Uh…."

"How about I pick a number between one and ten, you guys each say a number, and whoever gets that specific number or the one closest to it picks first?" said Kaara.

"Right." Eugene waited for approximately three seconds. "Got it?"

"Got it," confirmed Kaara.

"Okay… is it… five?" asked Eugene.

"You'll see," replied Kaara, smiling deviously.

"Great. Kristoff, go."

"Let's see… two," Kristoff said after a moment of thought.

"Right. Kristoff got it exactly. Pick and choose, big bro."

"Okay. Rapunzel."

Eugene threw Kristoff a furious look as his wife walked over to Kristoff before saying resolutely, "Anna."

Anna stomped over to Eugene, eyes closed, arms crossed, head held high and nose in the air.

Kristoff sighed. "Nya."

The little girl ran over to them, a beam on her face, her hair shimmering in the fading sunlight.

"Kay… uh… Olaf," said Eugene.

The snowman waddled over to him.

"Mary," said Kristoff.

Mary joined the ice harvester's group.

"Can Summer be on our team?" asked Olaf.

Eugene sighed. "Sure. Summer."

"Yay!"

"Elsa," said Kristoff a moment later.

"Kaara," Eugene said next.

"Primrose," said Kristoff.

"Benjamin."

"All right, let's get this party started!" Kaara exclaimed suddenly.

With that, they had gone to opposite ends of the ice rink. Nya was the goalie on one end, while Summer was the goalie on the other.

"Hey, Max, would you do the honors?" Eugene called over to the horse, waving the ice ball in the air.

Maximus lifted his head up from the grass he had been sniffing and nodded, before jumping up and onto the ice rink. He took the ice ball in his jaws before dropping and letting it role onto the ice and to the middle of the center snowflake on the platform. And then the game began.

"I got it! I got it!" yelled Olaf as he ran forward, stick arms sagging under the weight of the frying pan he was holding. He proceeded to swing it at the ball, but his aim was so bad, and the frying pan so heavy, that he missed it completely and slipped, falling flat onto his face. He stood up, shaking his head to clear it, his head now slightly distorted. His nose seemed to have been pushed backwards, into his head, so that now only a small stubble of orange showed in the front. "I don't got it!"

"Here." Kaara swooped over and scooped the ball into her frying pan. "No one said I couldn't carry it, did they?" She smirked as she skated across the very long length of the rink. And she could skate very well.

As Kaara zoomed past Kristoff, she called out to him, "On your left!"

Kristoff shook his head, smiling and skating to catch up to her.

"Oh, no, you don't!" Rapunzel exclaimed, laughing and hitting Kaara's frying pan with her own, following after the two siblings.

The ball fell out and landed on the ground. Kristoff began hitting it towards the opposite end and Summer. With a final swoop of the frying pan, the ball was soaring straight at her.

"Watch out!" Rapunzel exclaimed, but it was too late. The ball had landed squarely in the snowlady's chest.

"Whoops…" said Kristoff.

All was at a stand-still as Summer's eyes lowered to the ball on her.

"I've got a ball stuck in me!" she exclaimed. Then, becoming more excited every second, it seemed, she shouted to Olaf, "I've got a _ball_ stuck in _me_!"

Everyone was staring at her.

"Ooh! Cool!"

"Push her in!" Nya shouted suddenly from the other end of the rink in front of the two goals.

Giving a slight smirk, Elsa skated smoothly over and did as she had said, giggling at how ridiculous this was.

"Score!" shouted Nya.

"That's not fair!" Eugene exclaimed.

"Well, the ball _was_ in Summer, and Elsa pushed Summer in, and so the ball went in, too!" Nya yelled over to him, rolling her eyes as though it were obvious.

Eugene scowled. "Fine."

"Yes! One point for us!" cried Rapunzel.

Mary, getting an idea, called over suddenly, "Hey, Summer, pass me the ball!"

"Okay!" yelled the snowlady, and at once, she took out the ball and threw it in the direction of Mary.

Eugene, seeing what the eleven-year-old was doing, ran in front of her and exclaimed, "Oh, no, you don't!" The ball landed right in front of him, and he passed Mary by in one smooth motion, hitting the ball as he went.

"Eugene, pass it to me! Pass it to me!" exclaimed Olaf.

"Get over by the goals!" Eugene shouted.

"Okay!" Olaf turned around and went back to Summer.

"Not those!—ah, forget it. Kaara, over here!"

"Roger that, captain!"

"Not if I can help it!" Elsa suddenly came zooming gracefully over to them. Wait—zooming _gracefully_? How did that even make any sense? And without warning, she had scooped the ball into her frying pan and held it out in front of her and she skated over to Summer and the two goal hoops behind her.

"What?—no!" Eugene groaned.

"Come on, we gotta catch up to her!" exclaimed Anna, her face set, blue-green eyes narrowed.

Recovering quickly, Eugene hurried after her.

Very soon, Elsa was surrounded by people not on her team. She had to think quickly, before they came any closer. "Kristoff! I'm passing it to you, okay?" she said, giving him a knowing look.

Kristoff grinned. "Got it!" He stood, positioned so that he could easily catch the ball if Elsa tossed it to him.

Eugene, Anna, and Kaara hurried over to the ice harvester, but King Benjamin, who had been skating along in the background, took over near Elsa.

The Snow Queen looked like she was about to toss the ball over to Kristoff, but at the last second, she turned her position and threw it at Rapunzel, who reached for the ball, but missed. The ball fell onto the ground; everyone expected it to shatter, but it didn't.

"Whoops!" she exclaimed. She then started hitting it towards Summer. "There we go!"

"I see what you did there!" Kaara shouted. "Clever!"

Elsa beamed. "Thanks!"

Everything that had been going on at that moment had been towards the center of the rink, and now Rapunzel was wobbling past everyone, alone and unguarded, towards Summer. The people on the opposite team were all standing, frozen—except for King Benjamin. He had started chasing after his daughter—and, unfortunately, for Rapunzel's team, he was a much better skater than she. He reached her very quickly and quickly turned the ball around, and soon enough, he had reached Nya and the two hoops.

He stopped for a moment. "You ready?" he asked her.

She nodded breathlessly.

"And… score!" King Benjamin had shot the ball right at the hoop to his right, just managing to get it in there.

"Awe… darn it!" exclaimed Nya, but she was smiling. She had never had so much fun in her life.

"Woo-hoo! One point to us!" shouted Eugene triumphantly.

"Yeah! One point to us!" repeated Olaf.

"Dang…" muttered Mary.

"Shoot…" said Kristoff.

"Awe, Nya, you can do better than that!" scolded Kaara playfully.

Nya giggled. "I will next time!" She began skating around the hoops a bit until she was right in front of both of them, able to guard them equally. "There we go! That better? Harder for them to score?"

"That's perfect!" Kaara gave Nya a thumbs-up, smiling.

Nya beamed. "I'll go get the ball and throw it back to you!" She ran to get it and returned a moment later with the icy sphere.

"Here! I got it!" said Rapunzel.

"There!" Nya tossed it into the young woman's frying pan. It landed with a loud _thunk_, and off Rapunzel went, now skating a little more smoothly than before.

And, soon enough, Rapunzel had got the ball past Summer (who was waving her arms frantically in the air), and into one of the hoops.

"Yes! Another score for the Twenty-Four-Ers!" shouted Mary, her hands up in the air as she zoomed past Eugene, who was glowering at her, trying to conceal the mixed feelings he was having about his wife scoring and his team now losing.

"The 'Twenty-Four-Ers'?" Elsa asked, confused but smiling all the same.

"Yep! 'Cause it's Punzie's twenty-fourth birthday, see?" explained Mary.

Queen Primrose shook her head, smiling, and exchanged looks with her husband.

"We need to have a team name, too!" Olaf exclaimed.

"Yeah! How about… the… uh… Suns!" shouted Summer.

"Why the Suns?" asked Eugene, bemused.

"Because… uh…."

"Because the sun will be dying as our victory is born!" Kaara finished, punching her frying pan-filled hand into the air.

"Yeah!" Olaf and Summer agreed simultaneously.

The game went on like this for what seemed like hours, or perhaps days, or maybe mere minutes. Beautiful colors swam across the horizon like the most amazing painting: reds, pinks, purples, oranges—and so much more. And when the sun had nearly set, and the teams were now tied, four to four, Elsa suddenly remembered that there was someone missing.

She skidded to a halt, looking around. "Hey, guys… where's Nathan?"

Everyone stopped, the ball in Nya's frying pan and near the middle of the field (she had changed being goalie with Kristoff).

"Uh… I don't know!" Rapunzel exclaimed.

"Yeah, where is he?" asked Kristoff.

"How could we have missed him!" Kaara practically yelled.

"Uh, you missed us," Olaf pointed out.

"Our memories must be backfiring on us today," Queen Primrose said from on the other side of the arches on the rink. "Just this morning, for some strange reason, I thought it was Benjamin's birthday, not Rapunzel's."

"Yes, but where _is_ he?" Elsa wondered.

* * *

Nathan, upon hearing the word "ball," had felt very uneasy about letting Elsa play the game. And "frying pan" had made it even worse. And then, when everyone had gotten their ice skates on, he had made up his mind: he, Nathan White, was not going to let Queen Elsa of Arendelle die just because of a simple game of "panball;" or at least, get severely injured. So, he decided that he would go back to the castle and get a bunch of armor for Elsa to wear. However, it ended up taking much longer than he had expected.

Firstly, he had no idea where the castle armory was. Secondly, when he did ask a passing servant where it was, the servant who lead him there seemed to have absolutely no idea where he was going and he had to ask someone else. This other servant, Sarah, seemed much more capable of finding it than the other one. And then, there was the sheer choice of armor, and he had to pick one that would fit Elsa, and then stuff it into a bag. But the thing that delayed him the longest was none of those things—it was the guards that had been protecting Elsa from hidden dangers at the festival. Or perhaps it was what happened when he met them just then that greatly lengthened his journey.

Heaving the large sack over his shoulder, Nathan had turned around in the armory to get out, when he heard noise coming from outside. He stepped out and closed the door behind him and saw at once that the cause of the noise was the same guards he had met earlier that day.

They turned around and spotted him. "Oh, hello, mister!" one of them said jauntily. "Having a nice day?"

"Uh…."

"Wait a sec, I know you! You 'er the one with Queen… Elise, was it?" exclaimed a very pimply one.

"Her name is Queen Elsa of Arendelle, for your information," said Nathan, standing up a bit straighter—which wasn't very straight, as he had a very heavy sack of armor over his shoulder.

"Oh, yeah. Hey, would you tell 'er, from me, that she's one heck of a looker?" said the pimpliest one.

"Er…."

"Oh, and while you're at it, take this, would ya? It'll protect her from those evil spirits." One of them, with sleek blond hair, handed him a huge and extremely heavy sack that rivaled in weight with the bag of armor.

"Eh…." Nathan took it. What was all this about? Well… maybe it would be best to take this, just in case. These guards were… well, _guards_, after all. They must know _something_ about safety.

"All right, then," he grunted, now sagging under the weight of a bag of armor and a bag of something equally heavy. "I'll just be going, then…."

"Make sure to send her our love!" crowed one of the guards.

Nathan nodded over his shoulder as he took the very long, very heavy, and very painful trip back to Elsa.

* * *

It was now getting quite dark—but the moon was so bright, only a sliver of dark in the shape of a crescent showing, nearly a full moon, the stars so light, and fireflies had begun swarming out of the grass, that everyone wanted to continue with the game. Kristoff's team was now winning by ten to eight, and everyone was simply having the time of their lives.

It was then that Maximus suddenly heard very weary and tiresome panting coming from behind him. He turned around to see a strange, sweaty, brown-haired man with two large sacks on his shoulders coming up to him—and then realized that it was Nathan.

Elsa turned her head and looked over as well, noticing him in the dim light.

"Nathan!" she shrieked, dropping the ball from her frying pan in surprise. It smashed. "Where have you _been_?!"

"Getting… things… to keep… you… safe…" Nathan panted, finally letting his bags drop down onto the ground before him.

"What?" asked Elsa. That was when everyone else noticed Nathan's sudden appearance.

"Nathan!" Kaara, Anna, and Rapunzel shouted simultaneously in surprise.

Elsa skated out of the rink and looked down at Nathan, who was bent over, hands on his knees, right in front of the rink. She then bent down carefully and emptied the contents of one of the sacks. Out clanged the pieces of the suit of armor.

"What is _this_?" she asked in a slightly disgusted tone of voice.

"Ar—mor," replied Nathan, clutching a stitch in his side.

"What?"

"To—keep—you—from getting—hit—hurt—by a—frying pan!"

"But—_what_?" Elsa having some very mixed thoughts and emotions right now about this.

"You need to be _safe_, Elsa!" Nathan exclaimed.

"But—"

"Hey, look!" Kaara had joined them and stared into the second bag "It's _fruit_!"

"WHAT?!" shouted Nathan viciously, joining Kaara's side quickly and staring at the fruit, which mostly consisted of watermelons. "_FRUIT_?!"

"Well, yeah," said Kaara pointedly. "But why would you bring _fruit_? And this much?"

"I thought—protect Elsa—UGH!" Nathan stomped his foot down very hard onto a watermelon. It ended up sinking into the large fruit, splattering him and Kaara with bits of watermelon.

Kaara slowly opened her eyes, wiping her sticky face with her equally sticky hands. She turned to look at Nathan, who was looking quite scared now.

"FRUIT FIGHT!" she yelled out suddenly, and instantly, she grabbed the sack and brought it out onto the rink. She then started sinking her feet into as many watermelons, regular melons, oranges, grapefruits, apples, and (on accident) pineapples as she could, before picking up the pieces and throwing them at everyone in sight.

Her face brightening up more than it had at all today, Anna ran over to her friend and started doing the exact same thing. And soon, everyone else had joined in. Except for Nathan, who had instantly run into the midst of people, waving around the helmet he had brought with him, before getting fruit all over him. Soon, a full-fledged fruit fight had broken out.

Everywhere on the ice rink, people were getting hit by broken (or, sometimes, the occasional whole) fruit, and becoming very sticky. Maximus and Sven, looking up instantly, watched interestedly. Maximus, having the twins strapped to him, could not risk _them_ getting injured or worse by a piece of flying fruit, could not join them. Sven, being a loyal friend, stayed behind. If there weren't any carrots anywhere, he had no reason to join in. Plus, Pascal was on his head. Though the chameleon loved fruit (he had told Sven so), he didn't really want to be hit with any that flew, either. Everyone was laughing (except for Nathan) and shouting and wishing that this day could never end.

However, it had to at some point. For one thing, clouds were starting to fill the sky, covering the moon and obscuring its light. For another, Nathan had started practically sobbing at them, yelling at them to stop, that someone (Elsa, as a matter of fact) was going to get hurt. And Anna had begun throwing full-sized pieces of fruit at both Kristoff and Eugene in turn, quite a bit more viciously than was necessary.

"All right, all right, let's stop," Kristoff said at last, shielding his face with his arms from ongoing weapons from his wife. But she wasn't listening to him. "Anna, I said LET'S STOP!"

At that, she halted, her hand in the air, holding an apple in it. Her face was red and her hair was frazzled; most of it was out of her braid, and bits of fruit were stuck in it. She was breathing heavily through her teeth.

"Anna, what's wrong?" Kristoff asked curiously, tilting his head to the side. "You've been acting up all day!"

"That's because you were a… a… a… _weasel_ this morning!" shouted Anna, her face becoming redder by each word.

"A _what_?" Kristoff asked, confused. Now everyone was watching.

"A _weasel_!" Anna exclaimed. "Yeah… that's what you were! You and Eugene both! Talking about me behind my back like that!"

"I—what? Wait…. _OOOH_!" Kristoff hit his forehead very hard. "_THAT'S_ why you've been acting so strangely today!"

"So you think that I'm strange now, too, huh?" huffed Anna.

"Wait, no, Anna, listen to me," Kristoff said gently, walking closer to her. She backed away.

"Wait, Anna… _Feisty Pants_!"

At this, Anna stopped and took a deep breath, her eyes suddenly tired. "Yes?"

"We weren't talking about _you_ this morning!" said Kristoff. "That was _Summer_!"

"Wait—what?!" Anna exclaimed. "Tha—bu—bu—oh, Kristoff!" She suddenly ran at him and enveloped him in an almost rib-cracking hug.

"Anna…." Kristoff stroked her soft ginger hair.

"Kr-Kristoff…" Anna sobbed into her husband's chest. "I—I've been so st-stupid…."

"No… no, you haven't! Anyone would have made that mistake!" Kristoff said consolingly.

"R-really?" Anna looked up into Kristoff's soft brown eyes.

"Really." Kristoff gave a small smile.

Anna did her best to return it before burying her face once more into the ice harvester's chest.

"Uh… what's going on? Why are they talking about me?" Summer asked in a whisper to Olaf, her stick hand over her snow mouth.

"I have no idea." Olaf was staring at Summer as though she was some sort of long-lost treasure he had just found.

Elsa walked up to her sister and Kristoff quite slowly. "Um… hey, guys? Are you… done yet?"

Anna sniffed and turned around. "Yeah. Let's go back to the castle now."

Elsa gave a relieved sort of smile. "Great. Come on, let's go. It's getting late."

Anna nodded. "Yeah." Then, she stared up at Kristoff, who, taking her message, picked her up.

"Let's go," he sighed.

* * *

Red shrieked. But then the figure stood up so that she could see it to its fullest extent.

The figure was not was she had expected. She had heard stories about wolves roaming around in the forest, and had heard that they could gobble you up in one gulp if they wanted to. She, of course, was too old to believe such foolish things, but still….

And this figure was not a wolf.


	13. Chapter 13: Of Sunburns and Encounters

**A/N: Sorry it took me so long to get this chapter posted. Life suddenly got a lot busier—and wetter, in my case (swim practice). Anyways, I will not have internet for the next few days, so sorry if you… PM me and I don't reply, or something like that. Anyways, this chapter isn't exactly full of action or anything, but we'll get back in that "zone" in the next one. Please enjoy and if possible, review! Thanks so much, guys, for all your support! :) BTW, you know what I own.**

* * *

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

**OLAF'S SUNBURN AND AN ENCOUNTER**

Nathan hung back as everyone else started the trip back to the castle. They had gotten the sack of armor and Eugene was carrying it; they would come back tomorrow to clean up the fruit mess. He was tired and angry and just wanted Elsa to be _safe_, and this was how he was being treated? He stared at the thick white braid hanging down Elsa's back, lost in thought, watching as it became smaller and smaller the farther away she walked. He sighed.

"So what made you decide to bring the fruit?"

Nathan jumped. He turned around and saw Rapunzel's father standing behind him. He was smiling.

"Uh…." Nathan hesitated, but the king didn't say anything; he just stood there with that all-knowing smile on his face.

"Well…" he stammered, scratching the back of his neck uncertainly. "Well, when I went back to the castle to get that armor for Elsa—"

"And why, exactly, did she need that armor?" King Benjamin inquired in his deep voice.

"Well… to keep her safe," Nathan said uncertainly. He looked down and started examining his fingernails—that seemed to be the only thing he could do right now.

"Well, then, back to the original question," chuckled the king. "What made you bring the fruit?"

"Well, I… I'd met those guards protecting Elsa earlier today outside the armory, and they had this big bag. They said to take it to Elsa, that it would protect her from… evil spirits." For some reason, Nathan felt his cheeks go red.

"Aha." King Benjamin nodded. "Well, then, I daresay it worked, didn't it?"

Nathan looked up from his hands, confused. "What?"

"Well, if by 'evil spirits,' the guards meant the evil spirits of sadness or loneliness, then I think Elsa was protected just fine."

"Uh…."

"Didn't you see her back there? I believe that she was simply having the time her life during that fruit fight. It was quite fun, if I do say so myself."

"What… what do you mean?" asked Nathan, still confused, though less so than a moment before.

"Oh, Nathan." King Benjamin shook his head. "I'm afraid you might have to figure that out for yourself."

"Huh?"

"Nathan, if you truly want Elsa to be happy… don't always try to keep her safe. At least, in circumstances where it is highly unlikely that she will get mortally wounded, all right?"

"Um… okay…" Nathan said slowly.

"Well, then I think we'd better get a move on. At this rate, everyone will be asleep by the time we get back to that castle!" And with that, King Benjamin started walking forward, and Nathan, after a moment of hesitation, still digesting the king's words, began hurrying along in his wake.

* * *

The first thing Kaara saw the next morning was blackness, as she hadn't yet opened her eyes. She almost did it—but then decided against it. It was quite nice, laying here in bed, quite comfortable. She took a deep breath and sighed. She did not want to fully wake up, she wanted to go back to sleep; she was still very tired. The last two days had been the craziest ones in her entire life. Well, maybe not the _absolute_ craziest, but still….

Kaara tried going back to sleep, but it seemed that she was already too awake to do so. She opened her eyes and blinked the sleep out of them. She sat up in bed and stretched, groaning slightly, and looked around. Elsa was in a bed next to her. It seemed that she was still asleep, but she was fidgeting restlessly. In fact, it seemed that the entire castle except Kaara was asleep; the only noise in the still morning air was that of the birds twittering outside and the rustle of the bedcovers Kaara was nestled in.

She scratched her nose and climbed out of bed. Now that she was awake, Kaara needed to do something. She couldn't _not_ do something. But what to do?

_Hmm,_ she thought. _Well, it'd be nice to get a bit of reading done. Perhaps I'll go to the library. Yes, I think I will. Best to do the reading right now, when the castle's all quiet and the festival isn't going on._

And with that, she grabbed a silver ribbon from her bedside table, and, without even bothering to change out of her dressing gown, Kaara left the room, closing the door softly so that it wouldn't creek, as she had noticed it would tend to earlier. The smooth wood felt cool on her bare feet. As she walked, she started putting her hair up into a single-ribbon bun. She had memorized the way to the library, and soon reached it.

It seemed that no one was in there as Kaara stepped inside, the tall shelves of books filling the room, with chairs and cushions scattered here and there. However, as she walked around, searching for just the right book to read, she noticed that she wasn't alone in early-morning wanderings. She could see the back of a dark brown-haired person sitting very low in a large blue armchair.

"Hey, Eugene."

The man started, practically jumping in apparent surprise as Kaara walked over and sat down in a chair facing him.

"Kaara! What are you doing here?" he asked, startled. He hastened to pick up an old-looking book off the floor.

"Couldn't get back to sleep. I'd thought I'd read a little while," said Kaara.

"Oh… yeah… me, too," Eugene said distractedly.

"What's that book you're reading?" Kaara asked.

"Oh… uh… well, if you must know" —Eugene sighed— "It's _The Tales of Flynnagin Rider_." He held up the tattered, worn book.

Kaara nodded, not quite understanding why the ex-thief seemed so hesitant to admit this to her. Then, something in her mind clicked. "_Oooh…._ Oh, yeah!" she said, understanding dawning over her face. She remembered seeing "Wanted" posters sometimes in Arendelle years ago, with a picture of Eugene and the name of Flynn Rider on them. She also distinctly remembered there being something off about each poster… ah, that was right; the nose was never the same.

Eugene nodded grimly. "Yeah."

They both fell silent for a little while. Then Kaara said, "So what made you change your name when you became a thief? To the name Flynn Rider, at least?"

Eugene gave a little smile. "Well, it was this book, actually. I used to live in an orphanage, too, you know," (Kaara's eyes widened slightly) "and I'd read this book to the other kids a lot. I was one of the oldest."

Kaara nodded. Then she asked, "But what made you decide to become a thief, then?"

Eugene gave a sour laugh. "Kind of the same with the name, I guess; at least, part of it. Reading that book just… made me want to do something _important_, something I would be known for—"

"You wanted to be known as an infamous thief?" Kaara asked incredulously.

Eugene chuckled. "Not exactly. Actually, I guess I just wanted a life like Flynn—rich, powerful… doing anything he wanted to do; going anywhere he wanted to go. And… and I was an orphan with no money to my name, a mother who had died giving birth to me and no father I knew of…." Eugene sighed. He didn't really know why he was telling Kaara all of this; he just… _was_.

"First I started small," he continued. "Just loaves of bread and bags of apples and things like that, for the kids; the orphanage wasn't exactly the richest place on earth. Then it got bigger. I started taking coins from people, and more food. Then… well, I'd had enough of it. I made a plan; I got some food, prepared myself. And then, when I was around fourteen, I started my life of thievery as the infamous Flynn Rider."

"Wow." Kaara was dumbstruck. She hadn't quite expected _that_ when she had first asked the question. "I… wow."

Eugene nodded. "Yep. That's pretty much the story of my life, up until now. Found a beautiful maiden in a tower, went on a crazy adventure, married her… and became the father of her twins."

Kaara nodded, too, unable to find the right words to say to this new revelation.

They sat in silence for what seemed like a long time. Then, as though coming out of a reverie, Kaara shook her head and stood up. "Well, I think I'm gonna go find something to read myself," she said, and wandered off into the maze of bookshelves.

After a while of pulling out books and examining their covers to see if they looked like interesting reads, Kaara found one that looked very interesting in particular. It had a picture of a crown on the front. It was titled _Legends and Fairy Tales of Old_. She stepped out of the isle and went back to her chair and opened the book.

It was dusty and quite old, its pages yellowed and torn. But the smell of old books can be a wonderful thing to some people, and Kaara was one of them. She turned to the first page and found it titled _Beauty and the Beast_. Very soon, she had read the entire story, about a girl, kidnapped and forced to live with a cruel creature; and then, the girl eventually falling in love with the beast, and the beast loving her back….

Then, Kaara was reading another story, and another, and another. One about a princess that fell asleep for a hundred years; another, about a mermaid intent upon seeing the world of humans first-hand; and so many more. She was reading so deeply, so focused on the short stories in her hands, that she did not notice the sun slowly creeping upwards, as the morning slipped by.

* * *

Elsa was dreaming. She seemed to be in the forest again; it was dark and dreary, except for one small spot of light she could see amidst the crowd of tall green trees around her: the moon. It was full and very bright, yet a mist surrounding Elsa blocked out the light slightly. All was silent, except for the sound of the wind seeming to slither through the trees, making the leaves rustle and quiver; in the distance, she heard what sounded like howling.

"Hello, Elsa."

The Snow Queen turned around in shock and fright to see the faint outline of the person who had spoken.

It was Hunter. In his hands was a knife with a shiny black blade. And he was smiling a wicked smile.

Elsa screamed.

* * *

Kaara was pulled out of her reverie as the sound of a book being closed with a slam seemed to echo through the library. Kaara looked up, startled, to see Eugene standing up. "What's up?" she asked.

"Breakfast's in an half an hour, better go get ready," said Eugene.

Kaara stood up as well. "All right," she said, and followed after the ex-thief as he stepped out of the library and walked through the halls. She stopped when she saw the door to Elsa's and her shared guestroom and headed inside, waving goodbye to Eugene. She stepped inside to find that Elsa standing in front of a mirror, brushing her white-blond hair.

"S'up," she greeted the queen, walking over to the wardrobe door and pulling out a pretty blue and brown dress.

"Hello," Elsa said, turning around. The brush seemed to be stuck in her hair.

"Whoa… that's some major bedhead," Kaara commented. "Not sleep well?"

Elsa sighed. "Yes, I guess I didn't."

Kaara nodded. "All right, we'd better get ready. Eugene says breakfast is in half an hour."

"When did you see Eugene?"

"I was in the library earlier this morning. He was there," Kaara explained.

"Okay," said Elsa.

"Well, then, I'd better get a move on, and so had you. Hair doesn't brush itself, however much I wish it would." And with that, Kaara pulled on her dress and took another hairbrush from a drawer, and then began getting ready for the day.

* * *

After a brief breakfast, everyone headed out of the castle to the town square for the second day of the week-long festival. There were some different, newer games today, and Mary and Nya had decided to explore one of them together, leaving everyone else behind to go their separate ways. Mary had promised Elsa that she would watch over her five-year-old sister carefully.

The game they were at now was called Horseshoes. It had a very simple concept, yet was actually more difficult to play than someone might think, as Mary realized. For each turn, you had three horseshoes. You tossed them at a very large nail, which stood upright in the ground, and tried to get the horseshoe around the nail. Mary tried and tried again, but she couldn't even touch the nail.

She sighed. "All right, Nya, do you want to go?"

Her little sister nodded enthusiastically.

"Okay. Here, sir." Mary handed the man in charge of the game a small coin. "There you go, Nya."

Nya smiled as she took the three horseshoes from the man.

"Say 'thank you'," Mary whispered to her.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome, young lady." The booth man smiled as he stepped back.

With that, Nya tossed her first horseshoe at the nail. The tip of it went around the nail. "Yes! I got it!" she said excitedly.

"Great job!" Mary smiled in pleasant surprise. "Now for the next one."

Nya smiled and proceeded to throw the second horseshoe; it missed, but barely.

"Awe, almost," Mary said sympathetically.

Nya didn't acknowledge what her sister had said; she was too busy concentrating hard enough that she would get the horseshoe around the nail this time. She tossed the final one, and it landed exactly where she had wanted.

"Yes!" she shouted triumphantly.

"Awesome!" said Mary, beaming.

"Here's your prize, young lass," said the booth man. He handed her a small ragdoll. It had a pretty pink dress on an straight brown hair and small, blue-button eyes with a delicate-seeming, pink threaded mouth.

Nya beamed. "Thank you, sir!"

"You are welcome. Now, run along and go enjoy some other games," said the booth man, and proceeded to help the next person in line.

"Isn't she _beautiful_?" Nya asked Mary as they walked away, in search of another game.

"Yes, she is," Mary replied. "What's her name?"

"Let's see… how about…." Nya stopped walking. Mary stopped, too. "I don't know! I'll have to think a bit…." Suddenly, her stomach gave a large growl.

"Maybe we'd better go eat some lunch," said Mary.

"Okay. Breakfast was such a long time ago, huh?" Nya noted as she took her older sister's hand and walked along beside her.

"Yes, I guess it was."

"Cinnamon!" Nya exclaimed suddenly.

"What?" Mary asked, confused.

"Cinnamon! That's what I'll name her!" Nya decided.

"Wha—oh! That's a lovely name!" Mary smiled.

Nya grinned. "Thanks!"

"What made you think of that name?" Mary inquired.

"Well, we had cinnamon in our pancakes this morning, didn't we?" Nya explained. "And I just thought of breakfast, and cinnamon just sounds so _pretty_, doesn't it?"

"It's very pretty," agreed Mary.

"Yeah… now let's go get some food—I'm _starving_!" With that, Nya pulled her older sister along behind her as she raced towards a stand selling sweets.

* * *

"AAH! ANNA, HELP! I THINK I HAVE A SUNBURN!"

Anna's eyes seemed to pop open as she turned around to see Olaf racing towards her and Kristoff, Summer right behind him.

"LOOK!" Olaf shouted, before promptly running smack-dab right into Anna. "Whoa… whoops! LOOK AT ME!" he added suddenly. He then proceeded to shove his middle ball of snow as close to Anna's face as possible.

It was covered in a red, gooey substance that had suspicious-looking lumps in it. But as far as Anna could tell, this was no sunburn.

"Um… Olaf… that's not a sunburn," she said pointedly to the snowman.

"IT ISN'T?!" Olaf yelled at her, shocked.

"NO, IT ISN'T!" Summer interrupted Anna as she opened her mouth in an equally loud voice. "YOU'RE _BLEEDING_, OLAF! I KEEP TRYING TO TELL HIM THAT HE'S _BLEEDING_!" she added to Anna.

"NO, I'M NOT! SNOWMEN DON'T BLEED!" exclaimed Olaf.

"YES, THEY DO!" protested Summer. "I'VE BLED ONCE, AND IT WAS JUST LIKE THAT!"

"NO, IT WASN'T! THAT WAS KETCHUP! YOU SPILLED IT ON YOURSELF WHEN WE TRIED TO MAKE COOKIES!"

"Wait, they tried to make cookies?" Kristoff asked Anna, bemused.

"YEAH, AND YOU BURNED YOURSELF WHEN YOU TOOK THE COOKIES OUT OF THE TOILET! AND IT DID NOT LOOK LIKE THAT!" Summer yelled.

"Apparently so," Anna replied, staring at the arguing snowpeople.

"WELL, DUH! IT BURNED MY _HEAD_ THAT TIME! MY TUMMY IS NOT THE SAME AS MY HEAD!" shouted Olaf.

"BUT YOUR TUMMY IS MADE OUT OF SNOW JUST LIKE YOUR HEAD! IT WOULD LOOK THE SAME!"

"BUT MY HEAD IS SHAPED LIKE AN EGG THAT'S BEEN SMOOSHED! MY TUMMY LOOKS LIKE AN EGG THAT _JUST_ CAME OUT OF A CHICKEN'S—!"

"Okay, guys, break it up here," Kristoff interrupted, putting his hands between the two snowpeople.

"BUT—!"

"That's _enough_, Summer!" exclaimed Anna, though she was barely able to hold back a grin.

"Okay, so what just happened? How in the heck could Olaf have gotten sunburned?" Kristoff asked the snowpeople. "And could you please try to talk a little quieter?"

"Fine—no one asked for your opinion, you filthy little human-blood—"

"Olaf!" said Anna in surprise.

"Anyway, so we were at this pie-eating thing—" Olaf started, much quieter than before, before being interrupted once more.

"What? You guys don't even eat!" exclaimed Anna.

"Wait, did you say 'filthy little human-blood?' " Kristoff asked at the same time, bemused.

"You don't know everything about us," Summer said, looking at Anna.

"Yes, I did say that," Olaf replied to Kristoff.

Anna and Kristoff exchanged bewildered looks. "Go on…" Anna said a moment later.

"So anyway, we were at a pie-eating contest when, out of the blue, a boy in a blue Sunday bonnet threw a blue-bubblegum-berry pie at me!" Olaf said finally.

"Wait, what?" asked Anna.

"A-boy-in-a-blue-Sunday-bonnet-threw-a-blue-bubblegum-raspberry—"

"You know what, never mind," Anna interrupted again. "Just… go see Elsa. She'll fix your burn."

"She will? Okay, thanks, Anna! Thanks, Kristoff!" Olaf exclaimed, before wandering off into the crowd, his torso still stained red.

Summer followed after him as Anna and Kristoff exchanged looks of confusion.

"What the heck was that all about?" the ice-harvester asked.

"I have absolutely no idea," his wife replied, shaking her head, before saying, "Hmm… I wonder where that pie is?" And then she had wandered off in the direction the scent of deliciousness had begun to lead her.

* * *

"Where are those guards?! They should have been here a long time ago!" Nathan exclaimed to Elsa as they stood in the midst of a large crowd of people.

Elsa shrugged. "I don't know. Come on, let's go and do something, the festival's been going on for a while—"

"Wait! Is that King Benjamin? He's coming straight for us—what's he doing?" interrupted Nathan.

Indeed, the King of Corona was now walking towards them. He arrived a moment later and said, "About those guards, as you may be wondering where they are—I have just spoken to them, and it seems that that fruit they gave you last night, Nathan, was that of the pies that the cooks were supposed to be making this morning. They will not be coming to protect you today, Elsa, but another group of guards should be here any moment. And I can promise that no fruit fights will be breaking out because of them today," he explained without delay.

"Oh—okay," said Elsa.

"Well, they'd better… be here quick!"

Elsa groaned, closing her eyes briefly.

"What was that?" Nathan asked suspiciously, narrowing his eyes and turning his head to look at her very closely. "Are you hurt? Ill?"

"I'm fine, Nathan," Elsa replied, rubbing her temples.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Elsa sighed.

"Good."

"There is something else that I wanted to talk with you about," King Benjamin said after a brief silence.

Elsa looked upwards. "What is it?" she asked, suddenly feeling slightly uneasy.

"Hunter Jules's execution will take place tonight, at sunset," the king said gravely.

It took a moment for his words to sink in. Then, Nathan said, "Good."

King Benjamin turned to Elsa. "There will be a ball in honor of Rapunzel's birthday at around that time. If you wish it, you may attend the execution instead."

Elsa nodded, her blue eyes wide. Since sometime during the festival the previous day up until now, she had completely forgotten about Hunter. Well, not entirely, she supposed. She just hadn't really dwelled on the fact that he was assuredly going to be executed….

"Okay," she said finally. It was the only thing she could do right now… and for some reason, the news that Hunter—the person who was going to kill her—was going to die…. It scared her.

* * *

It was a woman.

Red stepped back in surprise. "Umm… hello?" she said uneasily.

The woman stood up from where she had fallen onto the ground. She was tall, with dark hair and piercing green eyes, and high cheekbones. She looked very strong. On her shoulders was a very furry, gray cape. She wore no shoes. There was also a sort of beauty about her that Red couldn't quite explain, an almost unrealistic one.

"Hello," she said. "And who might you be?"

"Red," replied the girl, still uneasy. This woman brought a feeling of foreboding she could not understand.

"Well, Red," the woman said, and suddenly, she flashed an uncertain smile on a face that held a very lovely one, yet somehow didn't quite seem to fit her, "It's lovely to meet you," she added, but her tone was graver than Red would have thought.

Suddenly remembering her manners, Red curtsied. "It's… lovely to meet you, too," she mumbled, her eyes downcast.

"And where might you be off to this fine afternoon?" the woman asked, apparently in an attempt to be cheerful that she did not quite do properly.

Red looked up at this. "To my grandmother's house. She's ill, and my mother sent me to visit her and bring her some food," she said brightly, holding up her basket.

The woman's smile seemed to broaden, which only seemed to make it more fake. "And where might your grandmother live?" she asked, as sweetly as she could, which looked somewhat painful.

Abandoning all sense of caution, Red replied promptly, "Near the edge of the woods, just a little farther on, by a large willow tree after going right in a fork in the path."

The woman nodded and sighed. "Very well. Well, I'd best be on my way; perhaps our paths will cross once more, hmm?"

And before Red had even opened her mouth to ask where this mysterious woman was going, or even say a quick "goodbye," with a swish of her furry gray cloak, she had swept off back into the trees.


	14. Chapter 14: Ball Gone Wrong

**A/N: It seems like forever since I last posted… though it was only a little over a week. Anyway, thank you for the reviews! Your feedback and opinions on the story means so much to me! In this chapter… things start to get a little… crazy. To say the least. And rather darker than before (though only slightly more than certain previous chapters). So, please tell me what you think! Follow—favorite—review! Thanks, guys—I hope you enjoy this new chapter! :D**

**Disclaimer: I only own my original characters and the plot of this story—nothing from "Frozen" or "Tangled."**

* * *

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

**BALL GONE WRONG**

After King Benjamin had left Elsa and Nathan, they had been solemnly greeted by a group of serious-looking guards that instantly formed a tight circle around Elsa, making it almost impossible to move around. She wondered what had happened to the other guards. When she asked, the new ones just said something about "training," and though she wasn't quite sure what that meant, Elsa didn't press the subject. Somehow, she managed to have a pleasant enough time at all the games and such, though she had absolutely no idea how; the guards were very firm and strict about her safety, Nathan was absolutely no help, and Olaf and Summer came running up to them minutes after the guards had come, shouting about something to do with a sunburn and a boy in a bonnet. So it was with relief when evening finally came, and the sun had just started to sink into the sky, that Elsa traipsed off to the castle, Nathan and guards in tow, for the ball that was to take place in honor of Rapunzel's birthday, the guards having placed themselves in different places around the ball so that they were almost always in sight if she looked hard enough.

A few royal dignitaries from neighboring kingdoms had visited Corona for this event, as it was probably one of the biggest birthday celebrations in recent history. That, of course, included the royal family from Arendelle. It was with ill grace that Elsa talked with certain young (and sometimes not-so-young) princes, kings, and dukes from other kingdoms; all of them coming up to her and ask her for dances, flirting with her in ways that reminded her creepily of Hunter.

Though she, at the moment, did not really know exactly what her feelings for Nathan were, Elsa declined most of these invitations. She realized that she wasn't quite ready for anything like that. She wasn't exactly sure what was going on with her and Nathan….

Nevertheless, he insisted upon accompanying her everywhere she went in the ballroom, much to her chagrin. Once people had begun entering the ballroom and the music had started, with Rapunzel and Eugene entering the dance floor first, huge smiles upon their faces, and delicious aromas coming from the direction of the food table drifting over, Elsa felt the need to escape from Nathan. She didn't much feel like dancing.

"Hey, Nathan…" she said in a slightly awkward tone of voice. "Do you want to get something to eat?"

"Hmm?" Nathan said distractedly. He stopped looking around the ballroom, on a lookout for any suspicious activity going on, and turned his gaze towards Elsa. "Uh, sure. But I'd better check for anything poisonous."

Elsa sighed. "Then again, maybe I'm not so hungry."

"Well, all right, then. But tell me if you are. I'll check then."

Elsa just nodded glumly.

"Is there anything wrong, Elsa?" Nathan asked suddenly, staring closely at her. "Anything at all?"

"Nothing, Nathan."

"Okay…."

There was an awkward silence for a little while, while Elsa stared at the happy couples seeming to glide across the dance floor, and Nathan stared around, watching out for things that could cause the queen any harm.

"Well, maybe we'd better head over to the dungeons for the execution," Nathan said, out of the blue.

"What?" But Elsa knew exactly "what."

"Hunter's execution."

"Yes…." Elsa's stomach seemed to drop to the ground. She should have seen it coming; it was inevitable that the time would come. She sat down heavily onto a chair and buried her face into her hands.

"Elsa… hey, Elsa!" Nathan sat down next to her. He wasn't really sure what to do. He put his arm around her tentatively. "Hey… er, you don't have to go, if you don't want to…."

Elsa looked up at him. Her eyes were wide and glistening with unshed tears. "Nathan… I…. I just can't help but wonder… what might have happened…." She let her head fall into her hands again. "I just…."

"It's… it's okay, Elsa. I'm here. I'll keep you safe."

But this was clearly the wrong thing to say.

"Nathan!" Elsa exclaimed, lifting her head out of her hands and staring at the young man in front of her with a look that shook him right to the core. "You… you don't—you don't always have to keep me safe!" The temperature dropped drastically.

"Wait, Elsa—"

"No, just… just leave me alone for a moment. Please." And then, tears streaming down her white face, Elsa stood up from her chair and started weaving in and out through the crowd of people in the ballroom, Nathan staring after her, with absolutely no idea what to do.

* * *

Just as the music began for the first song and Rapunzel and Eugene stepped onto the dance floor, Anna grabbed Kristoff's shoulder and shook it enthusiastically.

"We should go and dance!" she exclaimed.

"Anna, remember last time I tried to dance?" said Kristoff, looking down at her.

"That was—that was six months ago! That was at our wedding! You've… had time to practice before then…."

"Anna, I kept stepping on your feet. And I'm a lot heavier than you are. I can't dance."

"Oh, sure you can, you were fine at our wedding." And before Kristoff knew it, Anna had pulled him onto the dance floor with her. Sighing, he allowed her to lead him on in a rather enthusiastic and lively dance.

They danced for what seemed like ages. Finally, when Anna proclaimed herself too tired and hungry to continue, they stepped off of the dance floor. Rapunzel and Eugene followed them.

"Hi!" Rapunzel said excitedly to Anna.

"Hi!" Anna giggled back. "We were just about to go get some food. Do you want to join us?" Her stomach gave a huge growl.

"Sure!" Rapunzel replied, and she pulled Eugene with her alongside Anna and Kristoff to the long buffet table set nearby the dance floor.

The girls had a fun time selecting and tasting different types of food, and by the time the next two dances were over, they had all eaten so much that none of them felt like dancing any more—at least, for a little while.

Kaara came just after one of the dances had finished. She was red in the face and looked a little sweaty, but seemed like she had been having a good enough time all the same. She plopped herself down onto the chair beside Anna, who gave a loud and unexpected belch right at that moment.

"Whoops! Oh—excuse me—oh! Hi, Kaara!" she stammered.

Kaara laughed. "Hi."

"Where've you been?" Kristoff asked his younger sister.

"Dancing," Kaara replied simply.

"With who?" inquired Kristoff, raising his eyebrow suspiciously and standing up abruptly.

"Relax, just Mary and Nya and the snowpeople," Kaara said, promptly grabbing any and every bit of food she could reach on the table nearby and cramming it all onto a porcelain plate.

"Oh… okay." Kristoff sat back down in his seat.

"Wait—you danced with Olaf and Summer?" Eugene asked incredulously.

"Well, yeah. There was no one else to dance with," Kaara replied matter-of-factly.

"Uh… did any… uh… _boys_ ask you to dance, at all?" Anna said uncertainly, a mischievous grin slowly lighting up her face.

Kaara's ears turned red. "Yes, but I said no."

"What?" Anna and Rapunzel exclaimed at the same time.

"Well, I just didn't feel like it. Besides, snowpeople are surprisingly good dancers," Kaara said conversationally, but the redness in her ears was slowly seeping into her face.

"You can't just _not_ dance with _boys_!" Anna said.

"Why'd you say no?" said Rapunzel.

"I just told you."

"Well, you need to find someone soon!" Anna said stoutly. "You aren't gonna end up an old maid, not if I can help it!"

Kaara rolled her eyes. "You're being overdramatic. I'm only eighteen."

"Yeah, but soon you'll be nineteen!" Anna said indignantly.

"Anna, when you were eighteen, the first man you met and fell in love with turned out to be a psychotic, power-hungry maniac," Kristoff put in.

"Well—I'd been locked up inside the castle for a long time, okay? I was hungry for some… love." Anna's cheeks grew pink.

Kristoff rolled his eyes.

They sat in silence for a little while.

"Hey, Kristoff?" asked Anna, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"Do you wanna go outside? It's getting kinda hot in here…." Anna gestured around the ballroom.

"Oh—sure."

Anna and Kristoff stood up and left others where they were.

"I think I'm gonna go see… Elsa," Kaara said awkwardly, and walked away as well, leaving Eugene and Rapunzel by themselves.

"Wanna dance some more?" asked Eugene.

"Sure!" Rapunzel said, and they stepped up and walked back onto the dance floor, ready for the next song.

* * *

Kaara wandered off in no particular direction, not really sure where she was going—she also wondered where Elsa was, because she couldn't seem to be able to find her—though she hadn't really meant to go to her. After going a few paces, thinking maybe she would go back to Mary and Nya, she took a step backwards and resulted in bumping into something. She felt something cold trickle down her back and turned around, taking in a sharp intake of breath in surprise.

Behind her stood a very tall young man. He had somewhat dark, dirty blond hair that was also somewhat long, and hung on the sides of his face like wavy curtains. He had gray eyes and a somewhat pale, though quite freckly face. He was long and lanky looking and had a cup in his hands and the look of someone who had just slopped something out of the said cup.

Kaara's eyes widened and for a split-second she stood there, staring at him. Then she frowned and cleared her throat.

The man looked up at her from his dripping wet hands and said hastily, "Sorry about that… I am so, very sorry about that…."

Kaara raised her eyebrows and felt her back. It was wet, but she could tell that the liquid that had been spilled was just water and nothing to be worried about, though her fancy dress would be wet for the rest of the night—not that she cared very much, anyway.

"It's… it's fine," she said slowly.

"I'll go get a towel," said the man, and Kaara stared at his retreating back, still frowning. He returned a moment later with a cloth in his hands and started dabbing it uncertainly on her back.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… there's no need for that," she said hurriedly, backing away from him with her hands in the air.

He looked at her, eyebrows raised. "Come on, you'll be wet all night," he said.

Kaara sighed. "Fine, but let me do it. You… go get another towel and start mopping up the floor."

The man nodded, scrunching his eyebrows together, and then walked away, returning a moment later with yet another towel in his hands. He bent down and set the cloth down on the floor, letting the liquid soak into it while Kaara dabbed at her sopping back.

The man stood up a little while later and said, "Sorry again. I wasn't looking where I was going, and…."

Kaara waved him off. "It's fine." She started staring in the opposite direction.

"Well… okay, then. What's your name?"

This question caught Kaara off-guard. She raised her eyebrows. "Kaara Bjorman," she said slowly. Her mind suddenly wandered off to the conversation she had had just minutes ago with her brother and the others.

The man gave a small smile. "I'm Brennon Jack," he said in a fancy accent.

Kaara nodded. She had just realized what this "Brennon Jack" might be doing right now.

"Well, I think I'm just gonna go—" she started, and was turning around when Brennon grabbed her arm.

"Wait—would you like to dance with me?" he asked.

Kaara tossed her mind around, searching for some way to say no—but somehow, she couldn't find any way how to, so she said resentfully, "Um… I suppose… fine."

Brennon grinned. "Great."

He then took Kaara's hand and attempted to lead her off to the dance floor. She hastily let go of it, staring at him. Then they headed off to the dance floor, side by side.

* * *

Elsa collapsed onto something hard and cold. She hadn't really thought about where she was going, and was surprised to see that she had arrived in the palace gardens. There was ice on the ground behind her. She gasped to see it there and attempted to remove it, but couldn't. She tried taking some deep breaths, but then the image of Hunter entered into her mind, and she just _couldn't_. She then lay herself down onto the bench and curled up into a sort of a ball, facing the back of the stone bench.

She just… just couldn't think, couldn't do anything, and all the emotions that had built up inside her were spilling out of her like a waterfall. She was numb, and crying cold, salty tears, which fell into her mouth. Elsa wondered why she was not causing a snowstorm to be made right then and there, but somehow, only a small cloud of snow hovered above her, gently sprinkling her with soft flakes.

She did not know how long she lay there, but after what seemed like hours, or maybe minutes, or perhaps mere seconds, she heard voices and the sound of giggling. Then a gasp of surprise and the sound of shushing noises and what sounded like, "Go away, Kristoff!" in a playful voice came to her ears, which was followed by gentle footsteps and the own soft sound of her own sobs.

Then Elsa felt someone warm sit down beside her. She knew who it was, and thought that she would be told consoling words and pulled up, which was quite the opposite of what she wanted; yet Anna just sat there in silence as the small snowstorm died down to just a trickle of ice creeping along the bench. Elsa's tears soon slowed, and eventually stopped altogether, until she was just lying there on the bench with the warm and comforting yet silence presence of her sister beside her.

Elsa hadn't noticed that as she was crying, the sun had started to go down. Now, the clouds hanging in the sky were beautiful colors of an enormous variation—purples, pinks, oranges, yellows… it was a truly magnificent sight. But she could not appreciate it properly… because she knew that something would be happening right at this moment…. And she did not—no, _could_ not think about it.

When the sun was almost completely below the horizon line, Elsa sat up and stared at the sunset. Anna turned her head to look at her sister.

"Hey," she said.

"Hey," said Elsa back.

"Can I have a hug?" asked Anna.

"Sure." Elsa felt her younger sister gently wrap her arms around her. Without really knowing what she was doing, the queen rested her head upon the princess's shoulder.

They sat there as the sun set, neither of them speaking—or at least out loud. They had often seemed to know what each other was thinking, and especially today, that sixth sense was very strong. Anna seemed to know exactly what was wrong without asking, and Elsa knew exactly what her younger sister was thinking.

* * *

"So please tell me about yourself," said Brennon as they danced across the floor of the ballroom. "You come from Arendelle, right?"

Kaara nodded.

"Very pretty place, Arendelle. I went there for Queen Elsa's coronation a few years ago. You're related to Queen Elsa, of course?"

"Yes," said Kaara stiffly. "My brother married her sister."

Brennon nodded, a small smile on his face. Then, he twirled Kaara (as part of the dance), and they were separated briefly (also as part of the dance). They joined again what seemed like moments later.

Once back together, Brennon's polite smile turned into something more of a mischievous grin. "All right, enough of the formalities."

"What do you mean?" asked Kaara, confused.

"Time for an interrogation."

"Excuse me?"

"I will ask you some questions about yourself; you will answer them. Then _you_ will ask me questions about _myself_; _I_ will answer them," explained Brennon.

"Okay…" Kaara said uncertainly, brows furrowed.

"All right. What is your favorite color?"

Kaara raised her eyebrows. Then her expression turned to one of thoughtful contemplation. "Hmm… well, I love the color of roses."

Brennon grinned more broadly. "Rose red! Very beautiful color, indeed. Now, you ask a question about me."

Kaara thought for a moment. Then she said, "Where are _you_ from?"

"Well… let's just say that I'm from a small kingdom called Englewood."

"All right," said Kaara, nodding, though a bit confused.

"Yes. My kingdom has always been friendly with Corona—otherwise, I wouldn't have come to celebrate the formerly 'Lost Princess's' birthday! And I thought I'd… go with the royal family," said Brennon shiftily.

"Aha…."

"But anyways, now for more questions! What is your favorite animal?"

"Well, I've always loved dolphins."

"Really? Me too!"

"All right…. What is _your_ favorite color?" asked Kaara.

"You know, I've always been partial to the color brown," said Brennon in a somewhat off-hand voice. "The color of chocolate, some people's hair, animals…." His voice trailed off as he stared intently into Kaara conveniently puppy-dog brown eyes.

Kaara blushed once more.

"Anyway, so what's your favorite food?" he continued, jerking out of his reverie.

"Oh, um… you know, I absolutely _love_ mint—especially with chocolate." Kaara's lips formed into a small smile.

"Really? Mint is _disgusting_, if you ask me," said Brennon, rolling his eyes playfully.

Out of Kaara's mouth escaped a small giggle.

Brennon grinned broadly.

* * *

"Hunter Jules, you are to be executed tonight, on the twenty-fifth of June at sunset. Guilty for the attempted murder of Queen Elsa of Arendelle, you are to be hung in the dungeons of the kingdom of Corona."

The voice of the Captain of the Royal Guard of Corona rang throughout the dungeons in the room that had nearly been the place of Eugene's death. The king and queen were there, as were certain other people, including Nathan. Hunter, wrists in chains and arms held tight by two guards, stood by the place where he was to be hung. His expression was literally emotionless; his eyes seemed glazed and his mouth was in a perfectly straight line.

"Are there any objections?" the captain then said stiffly, casting his gaze around at the watching people. "In that case… we shall begin."

He nodded towards the guards holding Hunter, who both nodded back and stepped forward onto the platform, shoving Hunter onto it with them. They then secured him in a position like he was in a set of stocks—except that this was much, much more deadly.

"Hunter Jules, do you have anything left to say before you are to be executed?" the captain asked.

His face still so unnervingly expressionless, Hunter's eyes darted briefly over to one corner. Then he looked straight into the captain's eyes and gave a sort of a smile.

"It doesn't matter to me. Nothing does any more. Do what you want. But you will regret it, anyway. And I will live and get my happy ending. I know I will be saved…. But even if I don't… if I'm betrayed….

"I. Don't. Care."

The captain raised his eyebrows before taking a deep breath.

"Then it is time. Commence the execution."

And with that, one of the guards loosened the rope holding the noose in place.

And then everything went dark.

* * *

_The sun had set over the horizon…._

_ The moon had risen past the dying sun…._

_ A wolf was howling to the silver orb in the sky…._

_ And chaos had ensued._

* * *

Kaara had grudgingly allowed Brennon to tag along after her once the dance had finished, but regretted it at once. He kept trying to flirt with her, and she did not like it…. At least, towards the beginning… because as time went on, she started feeling a little less… _odd_ around him…. It was just as the third dance had ended, however, that all feelings of annoyance, or something else, were swept out of her mind… because she had just been about to shoo Brennon away in the politest way possible when someone gave a shout of surprise and fear somewhere in the ballroom.

She turned her head in the direction of the noise. And then more people started screaming. She felt something brush against the bottom of her dress. She yelped and saw that a creature that looked like a dog had just passed by her. Was that the reason that person had screamed? She looked around, suddenly feeling foreboding, and saw that more people had started screaming and running out of the ballroom, and more of the same creatures came pouring into the room, seeming to slither through people.

Then someone let out a real scream that echoed throughout the confused and frightened ballroom; the musicians had stopped playing; and someone lay on the floor with the bottom of her dress now stained red. And then there was chaos in the room.

Wolves streamed into the ballroom and people started running more intently toward the door, screaming. Kaara tried to reach someone she knew. She felt a strong arm grab her own and she turned around, fuming, expecting to see Brennon—but it was Kristoff. She wordlessly followed after him through the frightened crowd, not knowing where he was taking her. They kept each other's hands firmly clasped around the other's so as not to lose each other amidst the dozens and dozens of people.

"Where are we going?!" Kaara shouted over the tumult of noise.

"Outside!" Kristoff yelled back.

Kaara was suddenly pulled to the side. She gasped as something reared up to her. It was a wolf. It attempted to bite her, but Kristoff grabbed a candle from a nearby bracket and swung it at the wolf, which quickly backed away, snarling.

"This way!" he said, and promptly pulled Kaara off in a different direction.

"Where's Anna?! I thought you would be with her!" Kaara yelled as they raced through the people.

"She's in the gardens with Elsa! We found her there, and she was crying, so I left Anna there with her!" Kristoff replied.

"Then we have to get to them!"

"That's where we're going!"

Kristoff suddenly pulled Kaara around a corner, and then they were outside in the cool evening air, the stars now starting to peek out in the sky.

* * *

Suddenly, the sounds of a wolf howling and people screaming reached Elsa and Anna's ears.

"What was that?" Anna asked uneasily.

"I'm not sure…" Elsa replied in an equally uncertain voice.

Anna turned around and jumped up in fright.

"What is it?" Elsa exclaimed.

"I think we've been found," Anna whispered to her sister.

A wolf had indeed started creeping up to them on the path inside the garden, snarling. Its eyes were blacker than the blackest midnight.

"Elsa…?"

"Anna…?"

"Should we start panicking?"

"No…."

"Should we run?"

"Um…."

"Should we call for help?"

"What? No—um—uh—no—wait. You run and I'll—I'll try to fend it off," said Elsa, and she stepped in front of Anna.

"What?! No! Elsa, you can't—!"

"Just go, An—"

But it was just at that moment that the wolf had leaped. Elsa froze, having a bad feeling about what was coming…. But the wolf zoomed past her and instead headed towards her sister…. Elsa couldn't do anything…. She was frozen in fear…. She did not want to shoot ice at the wolf and hurt Anna instead…. Not after what had just happened to _her_….

Before her eyes, the wolf lunged at Anna and sank its teeth into her arm. The princess yelped.

_"Anna!"_

Anna had fallen to the ground, grasping her bleeding arm. Elsa cried out to her and collapsed beside her sister, shocked. She wasn't crying; she was just staring at Anna, at a loss for any more words. Ice had started to surround them; it grew in large spikes in a circle around the two sisters, rising higher every second.

The wolf had rounded on Elsa now, facing her, teeth bared. Not knowing that she was even doing it, ice shot out of her hands towards it. It backed off, yelping, not hurt but clearly frightened, and raced away into the night.

"Elsa—Elsa, it's okay, we've just gotta get me to Rapunzel, that's all—"

"Anna…."

"Come on, Elsa, help me up, please," Anna said, gasping and looking down at her arm briefly. Blood was seeping through the fingers clenched around her right arm.

"I…." Elsa couldn't move. She couldn't do anything.

She had to do something…. But she couldn't…. She couldn't do anything…. Her sister was lying in front of her, hurt, and she wasn't doing anything to help her….

What was wrong with her?

"Elsa… what… Elsa…?"

She couldn't do anything.

"Elsa…."

She couldn't move.

"Elsa, come on—come on, Elsa—"

It felt like an eternity that Elsa stayed there. She didn't know how much time had passed before she was pulled back into reality, with Anna constantly calling her name, becoming more and more insistent….

"Elsa…. Elsa—wait—Elsa! Wha—what's going—Elsa, help!"

Elsa's head turned sharply down to look at Anna. She put a hand to her mouth in shock and surprise and fear.

Her sister… something weird was going on. The bite was slowly healing itself, but it seemed painful, very, very painful…. And gray fur seemed to be spreading from that exact spot…. And Anna's eyes… they were changing… turning darker…. The pupil was growing larger, engulfing them…. And Anna herself was changing….

And it was right then and there that Elsa fainted.

* * *

_Everything was chaos…._

_ Everything was all a confusing blur…._

_ People were being attacked by wolves left, right, and center…._

_ And somewhere in the midst of it all, a young man stepped out of the dungeons, black knife in his hands, taken back from the soldier who took it from him in the first place, a blank expression on his face… ready to go back…._

* * *

Little Red Riding Hood shook her head and started skipping off in the direction of her grandmother's house. The encounter with the woman had been quite odd, she thought, but she hadn't realized exactly how significant it was…. Or how dearly the woman wished that this encounter could not have happened. So, she skipped on ahead, blissfully unaware of what lay before her through the trees beyond.


	15. Chapter 15: The End and the Beginning

**A/N: First of all, I am sorry. And second of all, I am sorry. Editing this chapter took a while is all I can say—what with the busy schedule I have at the moment. Anyways, thanks to all those who've reviewed! :D You're awesome! :) Also, if you're interested, feel free to check out my newest fanfiction! It's one on the new Disney movie, "Inside Out," called ****A Whole New Set of Emotions****. Thanks! :)**

**P.S. This story is getting dark. Just a heads-up.**

**P.P.S. You know what I own.**

* * *

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

**THE END AND THE BEGINNING**

The first thing that came to Rapunzel's mind when she officially decided she had absolutely no clue as to what was going on was Lily and Benjamin. She didn't know where anyone was, people were screaming all around her, wolves were attacking right, left, and center, and her babies were somewhere in the midst of it all.

"_Eugene_!" she cried, shaking his arm.

"Rapunzel—what—where—?" Eugene spluttered as his wife pulled him off somewhere. He followed after her, stumbling along behind her, as she raced through the crowd of people, narrowly avoiding being jumped on by an advancing wolf.

"We have to find the twins—they were over here—somewhere—!"

Rapunzel started running even faster. Eugene could barely catch up.

"Where are they?!" she exclaimed frantically, stopping abruptly. Eugene ran smack-dab right into her back. Rapunzel almost toppled over, but caught herself just in time—or rather, Eugene caught her just in time. "I saw them over here, right by this table!"

"I—Rapunzel—"

"Where _are_ they?! What are we gonna do?!"

"Blondie—"

"WHERE ARE MY BABIES?!"

"_Rapunzel!"_

Eugene grabbed his wife and turned her around.

"Please, calm down. Look, I know this is scary, but we can't lose our heads!" he said very quickly.

"But—watch out!" Rapunzel pushed her husband over just in time. A wolf had attempted to bite Eugene; it was now growling at them, licking its lips hungrily.

"Uh—Eugene—"

"RUN!"

"But the twi—" Rapunzel's sentence was cut off as Eugene grabbed her arms and started pulling her in a different direction.

"This way!"

"But—but where are we going? _What about Lily and Benjamin_?!"

"I—I don't know if we're gonna—just—this way!"

They zoomed through the crowd, barely able to maneuver. After what seemed like ages, they both stopped in front of a wall. There was a wooden ladder on it.

"Eugene, what—?"

"Climb up it. I'll explain once we've reached higher ground."

"All right…." Rapunzel started climbing up the rungs of the ladder. It was made difficult for her due to the fact that she had an extremely fancy ball gown on. Eugene helped her, following close behind, glancing downwards every so often and kicking a wolf to the side as it attempted to nip his feet.

Once they had reached the top, Rapunzel gasped at the sight that lay before her. She stood precariously on the top rung of the ladder. She was no longer inside the castle, but on the wall of it. In front of her was the town of Corona, viewed very high above the ground. It was dark, though the stars that sprinkled the sky above her and the lamps lit around the streets gave the early night a soft glow.

Then, as she swayed forward dangerously, barely catching hold of the ledge in front of her, Rapunzel remembered everything this sight had momentarily made her forget. She turned around and saw Eugene peek out from behind her.

"Hey—climb onto the ledge," he said.

Rapunzel nodded and did so, sitting down so as not to fall; the ledge was not very thick, and the ground far below. Then she asked aloud the question that had been following her and Eugene around the ballroom the past few minutes.

"Eugene, why did you bring me here?"

"Well…." Eugene sighed. "Okay, I'll make this quick. I found this place a while back—whether it was when I was still a thief or just exploring the castle sometime after our wedding, I'm not sure—but I figured it'd give us a good view to see what's happening. See" —he pointed behind them; there was a window that showed the ballroom there— "and it's away from those wolves."

"We've gotta go help, though—we've gotta go get the twins!" Rapunzel exclaimed in distress.

"I know—I know—let's just see if we can spot them from here."

They both looked into the ballroom below—they searched and searched, their eyes wandering among the people and wolves running here and there in the room—but they could not see anything that looked like Lily or Benjamin.

"Wha—where are they? I can't find them—where—where are my—where are my babies—?!" Rapunzel was now breathing very quickly, as realization struck her. "No—what—WHAT HAPPENED TO MY BABIES?!"

Eugene was silent. His eyes were wide. Because he, too, could not spot Lily or Benjamin. And he could spot things exceptionally well.

"Come on!" Rapunzel started back down the ladder.

"Wha—WAIT, BLONDIE!" Eugene cried out. He hurriedly followed after his wife.

Once again, they were in the midst of the wolves.

* * *

"Anna—Anna—Anna, where are you…?" Kristoff muttered, turning around corners, looking left and right until he seemed to spot something. "Kaara, this way! Awe, nuts—"

"Wha—Elsa—dang—"

Kristoff and Kaara skidded to a halt in front of a full-blown blizzard.

"ELSA!" yelled Kaara. She blindly fought her way into the snowy-whiteness and saw a figure on the ground.

"ELSA!" Kristoff shouted as well, following after his younger sister.

Kaara nearly got blown away as a sudden gust of wind blew. She stood strong, however, and stepped onwards. Just moments later, she came across a lone figure in the midst of the small in size, yet very thick storm.

"_Elsa_! Elsa, what are you—" exclaimed Kristoff, coming up behind her.

"Elsa?" Kaara said tentatively.

"Elsa!" Kristoff ran up to the queen and touched her face gingerly; she was unconscious.

"Dang… Kaara, she's been knocked out! We need to get her back to consciousness!"

"Oh, no."

"Uh… Elsa… Elsa! Wake up!" Kristoff started shaking her. He did everything he could to wake her up—even hitting her (however gently), spitting on her face, until finally, after one final smack on the cheek, she moved.

Elsa shook her head, opening her eyes. She had woken up.

"Elsa!" shouted Kristoff, and, despite the great cold emanating from her, wrapped the queen up into an enormous hug. She began to sob.

Instantly, the storm stopped. Kaara could see Elsa lying on the ground, sobbing into Kristoff's arms.

"Elsa… Elsa, can you hear me? What's wrong?" Kristoff asked gently. "Where's Anna?"

She didn't answer but kept on sobbing.

"Elsa?"

Elsa looked up at Kristoff. She was no longer crying, but tears still lingered on her white cheeks and black eyelashes. Her eyes were red.

"Are you—?"

"I let it take her," Elsa interrupted croakily. Her voice broke. "I _let her go_… I let her go…."

"Elsa?" said Kristoff.

"_I let my sister go again_," she said distraughtly. "She's gone… and I didn't go after her…."

"Elsa… uh… we have to go—there are wolves—" Kristoff tried to say. Elsa cut him off again.

"Something happened to her … I let her go… why… _why does this always happen to me_?!" Elsa's voice was now indescribably emotional. It was unlike anything Kristoff or Kaara had ever heard before. It was the sound of someone who had suffered a great loss.

"Elsa—"

Kaara's words were cut off as the sound of growling suddenly came.

Elsa's head shot up. With a look of someone that has given up literally everything, she shot ice in the direction of the noise. A wolf scampered away, yelping; its tail was now frozen solid.

"Come on. Let's go."

Elsa stood up, her face blank and cold.

Kaara and Kristoff exchanged looks before following Elsa. She marched through the garden, hands out. Ice trailed behind her, creating a slippery pathway where she stepped.

They entered the ballroom. Kristoff and Kaara were surprised to see that everything was silent—it appeared that the wolf attack had stopped while they were gone. They had fled. Spots of the ground had splatters of what looked horribly like blood, leaving the remaining guests in there alone. And once they had entered, the loudest silence any one of them had ever experienced was left in their wakes.

"Elsa!" Rapunzel and Eugene came running up to them; it was Rapunzel who had cried out, looking scared, while her husband had a shocked expression on his face.

Suddenly, the storm calmed down. The ice receded slightly, and the snowy clouds above them had gone away. Elsa turned to look at her cousin, and her face fell from a set expression of loss and determination to one of complete and absolute pain and distress. Her eyes were rimmed red and her face was as white as the snow that had just disappeared.

Rapunzel stared at Elsa, and Elsa stared at Rapunzel. For several heartbeats, they seemed to communicate silently, both mourning together, though neither of them knew what had happened with the other. The guests in the ballroom watched this sight with confusion.

Then the silence was broken as the sound of slamming doors echoed throughout the room. Everyone's heads turned as a man came charging through them, running straight towards Elsa and Rapunzel. It was Nathan.

"_Elsa_!" he exclaimed. He stopped just inches short of her as she stood up, looking at him.

Elsa gave him a hard, cold look. Then she turned to look at Rapunzel.

"We need to talk," she said stiffly.

Rapunzel nodded. Suddenly, tears filled her eyes. "Elsa… I don't know where the twins are. The wolves came, and I looked for them, but… but I couldn't find them!"

Eugene put an arm around her.

"Elsa, is there something wrong?" he asked.

"Anna's gone," she said simply.

Everyone gasped.

"What—" Kristoff ran up to Elsa. "Elsa, what do you mean? She—she can't be—"

"We were in the gardens. Then a wolf came and bit her and—and something happened, and she—she's gone."

Kaara took in a sharp breath. "Elsa, is she…?"

"I don't know what happened to her. I… I don't know if she's dead, or… or what. I—I blacked out." Elsa looked down at the ground. "I didn't do anything… I—I keep losing… I keep hurting my sisters…."

"Speaking of which—has anyone seen Mary and Nya?" Kaara asked suddenly, looking around.

At that moment, yet another figure came charging through the open front doors—except this time it was a horse. As a matter of fact, it was two—no, _three_ figures: Maximus, Sven, and, sitting on top of the horse's head, Pascal.

"Max!" yelped Eugene at the same time that Kristoff cried out, "Sven!"

"Pascal!" Rapunzel exclaimed at exactly the same time.

The animals rushed over to their group at once. Pascal hopped into Rapunzel's outstretched hands and started making lots of squeaking noises.

"Uh-huh… yes… oh, no!" Rapunzel said suddenly, looking around.

"What is it?!" Kaara, Kristoff, and Eugene said at the same time.

"I—I think Pascal's trying to tell me that—that Mary and Nya—they were taken off somewhere!"

Sven and Maximus both nodded vigorously.

"We saw some wolves run off with them!" Kristoff said for Sven.

"Really? Where?" he asked the reindeer in his normal voice.

"Into the woods!" the ice harvester then translated for Sven.

Pascal started chirping at Rapunzel again.

"He says he thinks he saw the twins with them!" she exclaimed.

"We chased after them, but they were gone really quickly!" Kristoff said for Sven.

"Well, we have to go after them!" Rapunzel cried out determinedly.

Kaara nodded vigorously.

Nathan gulped. "And—and what about Anna?"

Elsa looked at him for the first time in a while as though she finally understood him. "We'll go after her, too." _If she's… still alive…._

"Well, come on, then, let's _go_!" said Kaara. She started to walk forward.

"Wait—" said Kristoff.

Kaara stopped. "What?"

"Look."

Yet again, out of the large double doors ran someone—two someones this time. The king and queen rushed over to them and instantly embraced Rapunzel, before proceeding to do the same with Elsa.

"We weren't sure where you were!" panted Queen Primrose. "We looked everywhere—we were at the execution, you know, and then we had to deal with all the people down there and in the village."

"Where is everyone else? Rapunzel, where are Lily and Benjamin?" the king asked sharply, turning to his daughter.

Rapunzel's eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she said, "I don't know, Daddy! We think they got taken off by the wolves…."

King Benjamin nodded. "Many people seem to have disappeared since this attack."

"Wh—what?" Rapunzel asked, shocked. "Oh, my…."

"And Anna's gone missing, too," said Kristoff.

"So have Mary and Nya," Kaara added softly.

The king nodded again. "We shall have to send out a search party. But first, I need to have a council with the visiting royal dignitaries. Some of their people have gone missing, too."

Kaara felt a small lurch in her stomach, which she immediately felt ashamed of. She was _not_ supposed to be worrying about people outside her family at the moment, especially people she had only just met that day….

"And I'm afraid to say that Hunter has gone missing," said the king.

"_WHAT_?!" Elsa, Nathan, Eugene, Rapunzel, Kaara, and Kristoff had all cried out at once.

King Benjamin nodded. "He was just about to be executed when the attack came. We don't know what happened to him or where he is…."

A long silence followed that. Everyone was filled with horror—especially Nathan—but Elsa was refusing to be protected…. And to Elsa, this was a like nightmare come true.

Queen Primrose looked around at them all. "We'll be back in a little while. Elsa, if you would like to join us…."

"You'd better help the guests, it's been a shock for them, too," said King Benjamin, gesturing around the wrecked ballroom.

Everyone nodded. Elsa followed after her aunt and uncle, and others from around the ballroom followed after them.

"Well… come on. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can start looking," said Nathan, and the others all nodded silently as they started forward, towards the villagers scattered around the ballroom and the mess within.

* * *

The king, queen, and Elsa came back from their meeting a little while later. The others had found out that more people seemed to have disappeared—but the thing was, it was with barely a trace. Splotches of blood splattered the floor here and there, but it was odd: none of the guests or villagers seemed to be hurt in the least—at least, with an injury that could have caused _this_.

And then there was something terrible that no one had noticed amidst the attack. Because the guards outside the doors had sworn that they had killed off at least a few of the wolves. However, they could find no dead wolves anywhere. But to everyone's horror… people who were far beyond the repair of Rapunzel's magic lay on the ground. Perhaps it was the wolves, but there were no signs of animal-inflicted injury…. In all the confusion, the soldiers could easily have harmed some people, but even then, they had been taken to prison cells while the royal family thought about what had happened.

Yet despite this, the guards had managed to capture a few of the wolves. Without knowing what else to do with them, they had been taken down to the cells to be observed. They were odd wolves—larger than average-sized ones, and their eyes were blacker than coal.

King Benjamin and Queen Primrose looked grave, while Elsa's expression was merely stony and blank.

"What—" Eugene started, but then stopped.

"It's been decided that there are to be search parties sent out in the morning," the king explained without preamble.

Everyone nodded.

Primrose's lips parted slightly, and she looked a little uncertain.

"However… now, I know how much you must feel you need to do this—we've also decided that it won't be safe for any of the women to go," she said softly.

Rapunzel's and Kaara's heads all shot up at the exact same time. "_What_?!" they explained at the same time.

Elsa's expression was icy.

Primrose nodded. "We tried to reason with them, but they feel that only men are going to be able to do this. And many of these kingdoms are much more powerful than ours."

"But—but—couldn't you do _something_?" Rapunzel begged. Her eyes started filling with tears.

Queen Primrose shook her head sadly. "No… Rapunzel, I can't. If it were possible, I would let you go…."

"My sister is out there, and those people think that I am unqualified to go search for her," Elsa said stiffly.

"I know…" sighed the queen.

But Rapunzel, whether it was against her parents' wishes or not, was going to go search for her babies.

* * *

The king and queen had ordered them to get some rest, that it would be a big day for the men tomorrow. But Rapunzel had pulled the others to the side with a determined expression on her face.

"What?" Eugene asked.

"I'm going," Rapunzel said resolutely.

"Wha—Rapunzel—now, I know how you feel—" started Eugene, but his wife interrupted him.

"No, Eugene, you _don't_ know how I feel!"

"I wanna go," said Kaara. "I don't care that I'm a girl; people underestimate us, anyways, and I'd like to prove them wrong." A determined and firm and angry look had crossed her face.

"Well…."

"No, Kristoff. We'll go with you. Elsa, too. Right, Elsa?"

Elsa nodded stiffly.

"Then it's settled," said Kaara.

Rapunzel nodded her head enthusiastically.

Eugene sighed and rubbed his temples. "I can see I won't be winning this argument.

"We leave at dawn."

"No."

This came from Elsa, surprisingly. Everyone looked at her.

"No. We have to leave now. Two babies and little girls are gone. And so is Anna. We leave tonight."

* * *

So then, because the idea of going right into the forest, in the middle of the night, without anything needed to survive in the wilderness (they had no clue how long this trip was going to take them), they gathered some essential things together: several lanterns, sacks of food, weapons (including swords and frying pans), and some blankets. They also got some palace horses. Now, they had to do this all without the king and queen noticing, because they knew they would never allow it, so they all pretended to go to bed before setting out.

Finally, however, after several agonizingly long minutes, everything was ready. Maximus, having the brilliant nose he did, took the lead. The others were to follow closely behind, lanterns aloft to guide them.

However, there was a slight hold up. Olaf and Summer wanted to go with them. They weren't sure whether or not they should (they wouldn't be much help, and probably very loud), but they compensated by letting them come if they could walk on their own and be as silent as possible. They agreed, and, surprisingly, were very serious about the situation at hand (though obviously much less so than the others.

So then, at last, they were ready.

After having inspected everything, making sure all the bags were with a person and a horse and filled with everything they needed, everyone sitting atop a horse (or reindeer), Eugene sighed.

"All right, everyone… we're ready to go."

They all looked at each other. Suddenly, the thing they were about to do seemed much more risky and dangerous than they had thought before. Now, on the brink of doing it, they were suddenly afraid. They had no idea what they were running into, with only Maximus's nose as a guide. The forest was full of wolves, and they were running right towards them.

"Well… let's go," said Nathan.

That seemed to be the signal for everyone, the "go" in the race. And with one last glance back at the castle, where Rapunzel's parents were, thinking they were all in bed, they set off, straight into the forest beyond.

Rapunzel sat on Maximus at the front of them all, a serious expression on her face. She was more tired than she had ever been in her life—counting that night she had had the twins and Elsa had nearly died—yet she was restless. Lily and Benjamin were out there somewhere, and she did not know what had happened to them; her _babies _needed her—she was on her way to them, yes, what if she was too late? What if something had happened to them? What if…? No, she could not, would not think of that.

She only wished that Maximus would go a little more quickly….

Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears.

"Hey, Blondie."

Rapunzel looked around at Eugene's voice. He had come up beside her on his horse. She tried to speak, but her throat was tight and she knew that if she would talk, she would cry.

But she did, anyway.

"Eu-Eugene… Eugene! I—the twins—they're… my babies are gone somewhere, out in these woods, and—" she stammered, before her husband spoke.

"I… I know, Blondie. They're both of ours. And…." Eugene's voice broke. He could not say anything more. He stared down at the ground in front of him.

Rapunzel began to sob, tears streaming down her now red face, staring in front of herself as well. "It's—it's just…. They're just b-babies, and we don't know where they are o-or whether they're even a-alive or n-not…. And we're s-so n-new to this whole p-parenting thing, i-it's just s-so h-hard!" she sobbed.

"I know, Rapunzel. I know."

"We're not going fast enough!"

Eugene sighed. "I… this is as fast as we can go." He did not mention the fact that soon, they would have to get some sleep, because he knew that Maximus would not be able to find the twins by morning.

* * *

Elsa was at the very back of the group. She was thinking, and the thoughts floating through her mind were not pleasant ones.

Anna. She was haunting Elsa now… the expression of fear on her face as she whatever had happened to her had happened The trust she had put in Elsa when telling her that Rapunzel would heal her, that she would be all right….

Elsa hated herself for letting her sister go like that, without a fight—she had just kneeled there, not knowing what to do, completely helpless… and she had let her sister go….

And Mary and Nya. They were missing, too. Had the same thing happened to them? Had they both been bitten, _changed_, and then gone off somewhere? She did not want to think about it… she could not think about it…. But these thought pounded on the inside of Elsa's skull like some sort of mental torture device.

Seven months ago, Elsa had had one sister, one cousin, the husband of her cousin, and the soon-to-be husband of her sister. Then, in a turn of events, she had gotten two more sisters and Anna's fiancé had found _his_ sister. And then, her cousin had had twins.

Now, the youngest four of all of those people had disappeared.

And so had Anna.

And Nathan... no, he hadn't disappeared, too… but oh, Nathan….

Elsa wondered if he _had_ disappeared. Would she have felt remorse? Fear? Regret? She hadn't exactly been feeling the way she usually did about him… because he had suddenly become so overprotective of her… because she had almost died… because of Hunter.

Hunter. Where was he now, Elsa wondered. King Benjamin had told her that with all of the confusion of the wolf attack, it seemed that Hunter had disappeared, too…. But where had he gone? He had said, "Beware the moon, Elsa." Was this what he meant, somehow? But… it wasn't even a full moon yet.

_Almost_, said a tiny voice in Elsa's head as she turned it to look out of a window. But then, that could mean any day of the month.

And the thought of Anna's tortured face as she had… _changed_ came into Elsa's mind….

Then she remembered something she thought she had read of in a book. Something of creatures called werewolves, humans that turned into monsters on the full moon every month….

But that couldn't be it. Werewolves didn't exist… right? Of course not… this must be something different….

But _what_?

* * *

The sun had begun to sink below the horizon by the time Red realized she was very close to her grandmother's house. There was that pond on the side of the path, the fox den inside a hollowed out tree, etc. She was just wondering whether or not she would reach her grandmother's house before night had fallen completely when she turned a very familiar corner, and then she saw it: the small cottage where her grandmother lived, flowers of many colors all over it, the familiar white of the birch wood making up the short walls.

Red smiled as she began skipping up the neat little pathway, running her hands along the fence and nodding hello to the black-and-white cat lying stretched out on the rocking bench. She stopped right in front of the door, because she had noticed something a bit odd: it was open a crack. She wondered why it was so, but then shrugged it off, figuring that Grandmother must have just left it open while letting the cat out.

So, she knocked on the door three times and said, "Hello, Grandmother! It's me, Red!"

"Come in, my dear!" came a familiar voice—however, it was different than Red was used to. Shrugging off the feeling of unease that had started to creep upon her, she opened the door with a creak and stepped inside the room.


	16. Chapter 16: The Dream

**A/N: First of all, I am suuuuuuuuper sorry the break between updates was so long. I promise I shall try to get them done faster. Anyway, thank you to those who reviewed! :) You are awesome. :D Oh, by the way, I recently started a "Big Hero 6" fanfic. Feel free to check that one out. Anyways… thanks for reading and ENJOY! :D**

* * *

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

**THE DREAM**

The six people and assortment of animals and snowpeople rode for hours, not able to run for fear of Maximus losing the trail, and all the time wishing they could go so much faster. Finally, just as the sun was rising, everyone's eyes could barely stay open.

Kaara sighed and suggested half-heartedly, "Maybe we should take a short," she yawned, "break."

Sven gave a sort of grunt of agreement.

"Maybe we should…" said Eugene.

"No! Eug—" Rapunzel's words were interrupted by an enormous yawn.

"Rapunzel, we're all exhausted… I don't think we're gonna be able to go on much farther, anyway," said Eugene painfully.

Rapunzel started to say something, but Eugene gave her a look that stopped her. She knew he wanted to find the twins as much as she did, but he apparently also wanted to be in good condition when they did find them. Especially when an entire pack of wolves might be around them… but why would they keep them alive? That part was a mystery to her.

She sighed. "I—I… I guess so…." Her emerald green eyes stared into Eugene's brown ones. He nodded.

"All right, then. We'll get a couple hours' sleep and then start again. As soon as any of you wakes up, get the others and we'll head off… as long as it's been enough time to rest."

Everyone else nodded.

"Whoa," said Eugene, pulling on his horse's reigns. Maximus stopped without Rapunzel having to tell him to. Everyone else stopped and slid off their horses.

"I'll get a fire started," said Kaara.

"Do you even know how to?" asked Kristoff.

"Kind of…."

"Here, let me help." Kristoff stepped over to his sister and said, "We'd better get some wood quickly. Come—Kaara?"

The young woman had sat down against a tree and closed her eyes.

"You okay?" Kristoff knelt down next to her.

Kaara shook her head and groaned.

"Maybe we'd better not start a fire," said Eugene. "It's warm enough. Someone oughta keep watch for…." He couldn't finish, but everyone knew what he was going to say.

"I will."

Everyone looked over at Nathan.

"Are you sure?" asked Eugene.

Nathan nodded. "Yeah. This… it's kind of my fault."

Rapunzel's eyes widened. "Don't say that. How is it your fault?"

"I… well, I… I think it was because of me that… that Anna got… taken," he started hesitantly. He looked over at Elsa. "I mean… I think… if I hadn't pushed you… you wouldn't have… have run off and… Anna was with you when she got taken, wasn't she?"

Elsa stared at him, lips tight. Then she shook her head. "Let me do it. Take watch."

"Bu—" started Nathan, but Elsa gave him a look that silenced him.

"All of you… get to sleep," said Elsa, and with that note of finality, she sat herself down upon a fallen log on the ground.

Everyone exchanged looks.

"Wake one of us up after a couple of hours," said Kaara. "Someone else can take over. We'll all need our strength for whatever lies ahead."

"Come on, guys. Elsa… keep a lantern by you," said Eugene. He handed her one. "You'll need it."

Elsa turned her head and nodded silently as Eugene set the lantern down on the log next to her. It lit the forest up with an eerie glow. She heard the others' voices murmuring words to one another until they died down mere minutes later. Soon, everything was silent.

As Elsa looked out at everything, it seemed like all the sounds of the forest were magnified by a million. Every rustle, every crack of twigs, all the scurryings of harmless creatures sent shivers down her back. But she didn't care. She was numb, without feeling. Or that was what she was trying to tell herself. Because the shock of losing her sister to something unknown was breaking Elsa, making her feel emotions she just couldn't describe.

It felt like hours, days, years that Elsa sat there, ready to shoot ice at any unfamiliar movement. Her eyes were bloodshot and it was soon hard to keep them open. But she had to stay awake. She had to protect the others, unlike she had done with Anna…. But it was too much….

Soon, Elsa felt herself drift off to sleep.

* * *

"_Elsa, help! Elsa, help me! Please, Elsa, help!"_

_ Elsa's eyes opened wide as she looked around. It was pitch black. She couldn't see a thing, but she heard the voice. It was a young girl's voice. Anna's… or was it Mary's? Nya's? She couldn't tell… but she had to help her… whichever sister it was, whether by blood or not…._

_ "Elsa! Please, help!"_

_ Suddenly, in the darkness, Anna appeared before her. She had blood covering her, her hair was disheveled, but she also didn't look like Anna. Her eyes were red and dark, and she looked at Elsa with hatred indescribable, a hatred unlike Anna, unlike anyone Elsa had ever known… except for Hans…._

_ "You could have helped us. You could have _saved_ us. But you just sat there, doing nothing. You never do anything. You're a monster, Elsa. You only care for yourself. You're a monster."_

_ Suddenly, the figures of Mary and Nya appeared in the blackness. Like Anna, they were bloody and dark. They were unlike themselves._

_ "A monster," they repeated with Anna. They began walking towards Elsa, and Elsa tried to move, but she couldn't, and their sneering faces were coming closer, closer, closer…._

_ Suddenly, she felt something cold trickle down her back. It was creepy, it slithered down her spine, into her dress, her mouth, open wide…. She was lying on the ground and snakes were slithering around her, hissing, hissing, hissing…. She heard her name called… the person sounded afraid, desperate…._

_ The three distorted girls were coming closer. Suddenly, a baby cried in the distance, and Elsa shut her eyes, not wanting to see Lily or Benjamin in the same emaciated forms she saw her sisters in…. She was on her back and felt hands claw at her face, like wolves about to tear her apart…._

_ Elsa couldn't do anything…._

* * *

"Elsa! _Elsa_! Elsa, wake up! Elsa!"

* * *

_Howling was filling her ears…. Something was grabbing her shoulders… she was thrashing around in the ocean, drowning…._

* * *

"Elsa!"

Suddenly, Elsa opened her wide blue eyes to find them staring into chocolate brown ones. She gave a shout of surprise and shot ice in front of her, which was the moment she realized she was lying on the ground.

"Whoa—" Kaara jumped out of the way just in time to avoid an icy shard. "Elsa, are you okay? You were thrashing around in your sleep… I had to wake you up."

"What? Oh…." Elsa gave a shaky little laugh. "Yeah… it's… it's nothing…."

"No it isn't." Kaara wrapped Elsa up into a huge hug. "What's wrong? Was it a nightmare?"

"Yes… yes, it was." Elsa peeked over Kaara's shoulder. The sun had risen.

"Elsa…."

"What? Do you think I'm crazy?" Elsa asked sharply. She suddenly wondered if she'd done anything in her sleep… cried out, talked, yelled at sisters that weren't there….

Kaara gave her a gentle look. "Elsa, no one thinks you're crazy."

Suddenly, people started waking up around them.

"Maybe… we'd better get g-g-going," yawned Eugene.

Rapunzel nodded. "Yes."

Kaara turned to Elsa. "Do you want to go on?" she asked.

Elsa gave a slight nod. "Yes."

"Elsa, are you—"

"I'm fine, Nathan," Elsa interrupted. There was silence behind her.

"Let's go," she said. She turned around to climb back onto her horse, but it wasn't there.

"Oh, no…" said Eugene.

"What?" said Elsa.

"The horses must have run away… but where?" said Eugene gravely. Indeed, the only animals there were Maximus, Sven, and Pascal (in Rapunzel's hands). "They must've gone when we were still asleep, and we didn't realize…."

Elsa felt her stomach drop. "It might have been because of that ice I shot out when I woke up…."

"Well, then, some of us will have to walk," said Kaara. "Or… Elsa, you wouldn't, perhaps, mind making a carriage for us, would you?"

Elsa looked at her questioningly.

"You know what, never mind," said Kaara. "Well, we should head off, then, or do any of you want to get any more sleep?"

From the looks on everyone's faces, the answer was clearly no.

"Okay, then, it's as good a time as any to start!" said Kaara at an attempt at cheerfulness. "Who wants to ride?"

No one said anything.

"Blondie, why don't you—"

"No, Eugene," said Rapunzel stoutly. "And my name is not Blondie.

Eugene was silent for a moment. Then he said, "Okay, then, I'll go on Max."

"Elsa?" said Nathan tentatively.

"No," said Elsa.

"Who'll go on Sven?" said Nathan.

No one said anything.

"I guess I will, then," he said, and climbed onto him. "Let's go," he said.

Without saying anything, everyone started walking.

They all stood up and started gathering up their things.

"Come on," said Kaara resolutely, once they were all ready to leave. "We have some people to save."

* * *

The sun rose steadily above the horizon over the next hour or so that they traveled. And Kaara's stomach had started rumbling.

"Hey, guys…" she said. "Do you think we could get something to eat? I'm starving."

"Sure," said Eugene. "We can stop and eat something real quick and then go on."

Everyone stopped. Kaara sat down on a log, relieved. Her feet were hurting already, though not as much as she imagined they would after a while.

Eugene climbed off of Maximus and looked around for his bags of food.

"Dang it…" he muttered.

"What?" asked Rapunzel tentatively.

"Uh…." Eugene scratched the back of his neck. "Well… it appears that our food supply also went down with the horses."

"_What_?" exclaimed Kaara, aghast. "You mean we don't have any food?"

"Oh, no, we have food, all right," said Eugene quickly. "Just not very much… not half as much as we did before, actually… the horses had all of it. Now we only have what Max and Sven are carrying."

"Shoot," said Kristoff.

"We'll just have to ration it, then," said Nathan.

"Guess so," sighed Eugene. "Well, let's figure out what we have, everyone."

They all sat down and gathered up the food together. They had two sacks of apples, two dozen rolls, four canteens of water, and three blocks of cheese.

"Well…" said Eugene, "at least we have lots of apples."

Kristoff snorted. "I would have rather they were carrots."

"Kristoff!" said Kaara in a reprimanding tone of voice.

"What?" he said, annoyed.

"Don't be like that!"

"What? Kaara, we're in the middle of nowhere, probably lost, on our way to find something we don't even know where it is, and all I want is some carrots. Is that too much to ask for?" said Kristoff harshly.

"Kristoff! It is your _wife_ we are looking for!" exclaimed Kaara.

"We don't even know if she's alive or not…."

"Kristoff Bjorman! I would never have believed it of you! Stop it right now!"

"Kaara…."

"Enough!"

The brother and sister looked up to see that Rapunzel had stood up.

"Guys, I know this looks bad, but we can't be arguing like this!" she said. "Please, let's just figure out how we're going to split this food up and calm down! We can't wait for much longer! I—I don't even know if they're still alive!" Rapunzel's voice broke on that last note. "But if there's even the slimmest chance that my babies and two little girls and my cousin are still alive, I will keep fighting to get them back! Please, just _calm down_!"

Everyone stared at her.

"Rapunzel's right," said Nathan. "Come on, let's figure this out."

Soon enough, each of them was given an apple, a roll, some cheese, and a sip of water. Then they all started back up the road, wondering exactly what lay ahead of them in the woods beyond.

* * *

They had been traveling for what seemed like hours, and the sun had started to go down, and Maximus had given no sign that he had found anything interesting. However, he was still on the trail, searching as hard as he could. And then they had found the stream.

It was huge, at least twelve feet long, and looked deep, and fast, more of a river, really. It lay directly in the path Max was leading them on (which had since strayed into the woods), but his nose did not lead anywhere next to them. Crossing the stream was, apparently, their only way forward.

"Oh, nuts…" muttered Eugene.

"How are we going to cross it?" said Kristoff.

"Elsa could freeze the river," suggested Kaara.

Everyone looked at her.

"I… I don't think… I don't think I can. I don't know if it will be stable enough or anything…" Elsa said in a small voice. She couldn't stop thinking about that dream… and her strength seemed to fade away.

Eugene sighed. "I guess we'll have to wade through it."

"But—it looks kinda… dangerous… doesn't it?" said Nathan uncertainly.

"We'll go across it," said Elsa sharply. "We don't have any other options."

"Max, do you think you could carry Rapunzel?" Eugene asked the horse. Maximus neighed. "Rapunzel?" Eugene continued.

"I think I'll go by myself," said Rapunzel resolutely. "I might be too heavy for Max." Though it was obvious that she wasn't, Eugene didn't argue. He knew he wouldn't be able to win, anyway, but why Rapunzel didn't want to ride the horse was beyond him.

"Elsa can, though."

Eugene looked in surprise at Rapunzel, then at Elsa.

"Rapunzel…" Elsa started.

"No, you should ride him. I'll be fine on my own," said Rapunzel. "Go on," she said when Elsa hesitated. "You need a break. You stayed up all last night for us, come on."

Elsa had a look of defiance on her face, but looked at Maximus and sighed before walking over to him and climbing on his back.

"Good," said Rapunzel. "Someone wanna go on Sven?"

As it turned out, no one did.

"Okay, great!" she said. She turned towards the stream. "All right, let's go." She turned around and looked at everyone. They all stepped over and joined her at the edge of the water.

She took a deep breath. "On three?"

Everyone nodded.

"Okay. One," said Rapunzel.

"Two," added Kaara.

"_Wait_!"

Everyone turned around as the voice rang throughout the forest.

"Wait!" it repeated.

"Brennon?" said Kaara in disbelief.

"Hey," he said. Brennon Jack walked forward from out of the trees. A horse was nearby with a pack on its back. In much more serious tones, he added, "Guys, hold on."

"What is it?" asked Elsa coldly.

"Your parents want you back," Brennon replied, as though Elsa had not used such a harsh tone of voice. He directed his words towards Rapunzel.

The princess's eyes widened. "Oh, no… but…."

"Who are you?" asked Kristoff sharply.

"Brennon. Brennon Jack," said Brennon. "Kaara knows me. We met at the ball last night."

Kristoff looked at Kaara questioningly with narrowed eyes.

"What?" asked Kaara indignantly. "I only danced with him, all right?"

"I thought you weren't interested in guys yet."

"I'm not!" countered Kaara. "I just talked with him, okay? Chill!"

Kristoff grunted.

There was silence. Brennon was the one who broke it.

"Guys… the king and queen wanted me to send you a message."

"What is it?" asked Rapunzel in a resigned voice, closing her eyes.

"They say… first of all, they say that they wish you hadn't done this."

Rapunzel took a deep breath.

"…And that they'll let you continue on your journey."

Rapunzel opened her eyes. "Really?" she said in a somewhat excited tone of voice.

"Really," said Brennon. "But… they want me to come with you."

Rapunzel looked at him closely.

"Do you know what we're even doing?" asked Kaara suspiciously.

"Pretty sure I do," said Brennon. "Going to save some babies, two little girls, and the princess of Arendelle. Actually, the prince and princess of Corona, and the three princesses of Arendelle." He gave a slight smile. "Pretty sure I know what you're doing."

Rapunzel said softly, "Did they say anything else?"

Brennon looked at her closely for a moment before replying slowly, "Yes. They say… they wish they could go with you. They say that they don't want to lose their grandchildren. And to be careful. They don't want to lose their little girl… again. Especially if it might be permanent this time."

Silence met these words. Rapunzel looked down at her feet.

"And… that they're proud of you."

Rapunzel looked up at him.

"Really?" she said softly.

Brennon nodded. "Really."

Tears started to fill her eyes. "Thank you, Brennon."

"You're welcome," he replied.

There was a moment of silence. Then Rapunzel said, "We have to cross this river."

"Kind of figured that," said Brennon.

"Are you coming with us, then?" asked Eugene.

Brennon nodded. "Yep."

Eugene rubbed the back of his neck. "Okay, then. We'd better start."

Brennon nodded again. "And… there's one more thing you ought to know. Boys, you can come out now."

Out of the trees appeared no less than twenty soldiers; fully armored, they all sat atop horses that all held packs.

Rapunzel's mouth fell open.

"But…" she stuttered.

"And your parents also said that if you were to go on this chase for the twins, you would take a handful of soldiers with you," said Brennon.

"A _handful_?" spluttered Eugene.

Brennon nodded. "Yep. They will be assisting you on this little expedition of yours."

Rapunzel and Eugene sighed simultaneously.

"That's… good," said Nathan.

Eugene nodded. "Guess they might be useful..."

Rapunzel glared at him.

"I said _might be_."

Rapunzel sighed again. "All right. But they're all going to cross this river?"

"That's the plan," said Brennon.

"And the princess and company are to each ride a horse," stated the captain of the Royal Guard, who was conveniently there. "We thought you'd already have some horses, but as there's only Maximus and that donkey—"

"Reindeer," corrected Kristoff sharply.

"Reindeer. Sorry." The captain cleared his throat. "So you are to ride on them without complaint. We will be glad to give them up for you, your Highness."

Rapunzel took a shuddering breath. "Fine."

"Rapunzel, you can ride Max if you want," said Eugene.

"No, no, it seems that the Royal Guard has made it perfectly clear that they wish me to ride on _their_ horses," said Rapunzel in mock airiness.

Eugene exchanged looks with Kristoff. "Fine," he said. "Everyone… get on a horse."

They all did.

Rapunzel looked at Kaara. "On three again?"

"On three," said Kaara.

"One," said Rapunzel.

"Two," said Kaara.

"Three!" they said at the same time, and everyone (including the Royal Guard) immediately stepped into the water.

As it turned out, the current was a bit stronger than expected. Rapunzel waded through the water, intent upon overpowering the strength of it. Soon, it was knee deep. Then it was waist deep. And when she had reached the middle of the stream that she now thought of as a river, the water was up to her shoulders.

Rapunzel's face was set and red. The others beside her had similar expressions. She exchanged a glance with Eugene. He gave a small smile, still riding forward, when suddenly, Rapunzel's horse's footing on the loose stones gave way beneath it, and it stumbled and the princess's head plunged beneath the surface of the water.

The last thing Rapunzel saw before she was swept away was the look of horror and fear on her husband's face.

* * *

Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother's house was quite small. There was only one room, which held a small wooden table and kitchen and chairs and a bed and some shelves with books and things, and a closet nearby. In the bed, which was right across from the door, was Red's grandmother.

Gray hair, white nightcap, Granny had her bedcovers pulled up right to her chin. As Red got closer, her grandmother looked odder. She stepped up right next to the bed and set the basket on a dressing table next to it.

She gave a smile that wasn't quite her usual one. Her grandmother didn't seem quite the same. "Hi, Granny."

Her grandmother smiled. "Hello, Red, dear," she said in a voice that wasn't quite her own. It was a bit more musical than usual, and a hint of fear lingered there. It was also slightly deeper than hers.

Red leaned in closer. "I brought you the medicine and food you sent for."

"Thank you, my dear," said her grandmother.

Red looked a little closer. "My, Granny, what smooth hands you have."

Granny gave a small smile. "The better to touch you with, my dear."

"What large eyes you have!" said Red, because her grandmother's eyes were much bigger than usual.

"The better to see you with, my dear."

"My, Granny, what a long nose you have," said Red, uneasiness growing within her.

"The better to… smell you with, my dear," said her grandmother.

"To—to smell me with?"

"Yes, dear," said her grandmother. Suddenly, she sat up in bed and gave Red the smile she had seen just earlier that day. "To smell you with."

"Wha—" Red gasped. "You!"

"Yes, me," said the woman from the woods. Suddenly, she seemed to give a loud howl.

Red turned around and to her horror saw, coming from the shadows in the corners of the cottage, wolves, their teeth bared, snarling, their eyes black as midnight. She screamed.

They pounced.

She saw a figure suddenly leap in front of her.

And then all went black.


	17. Chapter 17: The Tower

**A/N: Hey, guys! So, new chappie. Left you guys hanging on that last one, didn't I? DIDN'T I?! All right, enough of my madness. Thanks for the reviews. :) They made me feel special. :D (Ya know). Anyways, please enjoy! Also… I'm planning on letting someone die. Just an FYI. *evil laughter* ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own "Frozen," "Tangled," or any of their characters or plot. I only own this story and the characters you do not recognize from any Disney movie or whatnot. Which is as obvious as the fact that "Let it Go" is one of the catchiest songs in the world. "Let it go, let it go!" All right, Elsa, that's enough.**

**DITTO TO WHEN I SAID "ENJOY" EARLIER! :D *evil laughter***

**BTW… please… REVIEW.**

**Enjoy. :)**

* * *

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

**THE TOWER**

"Rapunzel!" Eugene cried out. He dived off of his horse and into the water. The current swept him off his feet, in the direction of his wife; that was good, sort of, except he was not in control of himself.

"Rapun—" Eugene was dunked under the water and choked on it, tumbling around in the rushing river. He struggled to surface and when he did, once again yelled out, "Rapunzel!" He saw a hand come out of the water. "Rapunzel!"

He tried to swim towards it. Everything was wet, water was rushing around his ears, going into his eyes, his lungs. He couldn't hear, he couldn't see, he couldn't breathe. He pulled underwater again and opened his eyes. He thought he could make out the outline of a purple-clad figure. He fought the current of the river towards it.

"Eugene!"

"Rapunzel!"

Eugene saw his wife's head stick out of the water briefly, before being swallowed by it again. He dove underwater, thinking this might be easier to get to her. It wasn't much. He swam towards her, using up almost all of his remaining strength. His head came out of the water just in time to see Rapunzel still being pulled by the current. And if she kept going, she was going to be pulled right into a wall of sharp rocks; there were cracks in it, where the water rushed through.

_No._

"Rapunzel!"

Eugene swam along with the current, hoping to reach Rapunzel in time to stop her from hitting the rocks. Suddenly, he felt the water get cold. And then it froze all around him. He let out a cry of surprise.

The whole river was frozen, as though time had stopped. Except it hadn't.

"_Rapunzel_!"

Eugene let out a yell of agony as he saw her trapped under the ice. He didn't even notice as the water around him grew warmer, until he was swimming upright in the center of freezing cold but liquid water. He attempted to break the ice in front of him to get to Rapunzel, but stopped as he saw the ice surrounding her melt. He watched and struggled even more to get to her, because she wasn't coming up.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene looked around, his mind buzzing frantically like millions of flies trapped beneath a jar. "Rapunzel!"

A figure flashed past him, running right at Rapunzel. It was Kaara.

"Eugene, help me!" she shouted, before diving into the water after Rapunzel.

"What?!" Eugene yelled after her, but she was already underwater. He shook his head before thinking a moment, and realizing what Kaara was doing. He scrambled out of the little scoop in the ice and ran across the frozen water towards the hole which held his wife and Kaara. He dived in after them.

The opening in the ice was dark and deep; Rapunzel had sunk deep into the river. Eugene opened his eyes and looked around. He saw a girl with blond hair trying to pull up the brunette. Kaara and Rapunzel. Wishing, not for the first time, that he could breathe underwater, he swam deeper to get to them. He grabbed onto Rapunzel, and, with Kaara, pulled her up to the surface.

He took an enormous breath as he pulled his wife onto the ice. He wanted to rest and get some more air, but Rapunzel wasn't moving. Her eyes were closed and she wasn't breathing.

"Rapunzel! No, no, no, no, no, no!" Eugene cried out, shaking her. "Rapunzel! Please don't be dead! Rapunzel! The twins need you! _I _need you! Rapunzel!"

"Eugene, move!" shouted Kaara, pushing him to the side. "I can help her! Move, please!"

Eugene pulled away from his wife and watched with extreme anxiety and fear as Kaara pumped Rapunzel's chest before putting her mouth to her. Eugene wondered what she was doing before realizing that she was putting breath back into his wife. She did this several more times before lifting her head up.

Eugene stared down at the unconscious girl beneath him. He wondered… what would happen if she didn't wake up. Kaara was still doing… whatever she was doing to her. He really, really hoped it would work.

Suddenly, Rapunzel gasped and took an enormous breath before coughing out a lot of water. Kaara backed away quickly.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene yelled, relief breaking out across his face.

"Eu—" Rapunzel coughed. "Eugene?"

"Rapunzel!" Eugene grabbed her in an enormous hug and placing his lips on hers. Rapunzel's arms wrapped around him weakly. He let go of her. "You're—you're okay!"

Rapunzel took another heaving breath and nodded. "Yeah…. What—what happened?" she asked between breaths. "I remember—the—the river knocked me off my horse and—I got pulled under water—and then I woke up—"

"Eugene went in after you," said Kaara.

"I—I know! Eugene—you—"

"I couldn't have left you down there to drown," he interrupted.

Kaara looked from Rapunzel to Eugene and back again before continuing, "Elsa froze the water. Then she thawed the places you and Eugene were in. But you weren't moving. So Eugene and I went in after you."

Rapunzel looked up at Kaara, and then at Eugene. "Th-thank you. Eugene—"

Eugene kissed her again before she could continue. "I'm your husband."

Rapunzel smiled weakly at him. "I know. And now we have to go get our children." She began to stand up, but fell back down instantly.

"Rapunzel, you need to lie down," said Eugene.

"No—I can't—we need to go get the twins—" Rapunzel protested, grabbing her husband's shoulders and attempting to hoist herself up.

"Rapunzel, I hate to break it to you, but you almost drowned back there," said Kaara. "You need rest. Maybe you and Eugene can ride on a horse together, but soon you're going to have to sleep."

"I—but—wait a sec—where's my horse?" Rapunzel looked around. "Oh, no, oh no, oh no… did it get washed down the river?"

Kaara nodded sadly. "In this case you and Eugene will _have_ to share a horse. Plus, it'd probably be best if you share one, in case you fall or something. You almost drowned and should be pretty tired, after all."

"Then we'll ride Maximus," Rapunzel said determinedly.

"Rapunzel—"

"Eugene, just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't recover from things." Rapunzel gave her husband a withering look.

Eugene's eyebrows were raised. "Okay, then. Come on… let's get going."

They all stood up. It was then that Rapunzel noticed that they'd been laying on ice.

"Oh, yeah…." She followed her husband and Kaara over to the other side of the frozen river, limping, though she tried not to show it. Kristoff, Elsa, Nathan, Brennon, Olaf, the guards, and the remaining horses were all standing there.

"Where's—"

Rapunzel was cut off as she was enveloped in a hug. She looked up to see the hugger; it was Kristoff.

"Hi," she said, smiling weakly.

"You okay?" asked Kristoff, holding her by the shoulders.

Rapunzel shrugged. "I've been better."

"Good," Kristoff said gruffly, letting go of her.

"Where's Summer?" Rapunzel continued on what she was saying before Kristoff interrupted her.

"Over here!" came the voice of the snowlady. They all looked over at the river. In the middle of it, Summer was trapped, her body parts in different places, frozen inside the river. "I'm kinda in a pickle right now! Get it? 'Cause you make pickles in water!"

"How did she know _that_?" Rapunzel heard Brennon mutter.

"I think it's because when Elsa made her, I guess she sort of put a bit of her and Anna in Summer. The snowdudes can be sort of weird," Kaara explained, not looking at Brennon but at Summer.

Rapunzel turned her head away and saw the ice slowly being thawed. She looked over at Elsa; the queen had her arms raised and moving so as to only thaw a small section of the river, so that it was like a very small lake. Snow lifted Summer out of the water and into the air to form back together and back onto dry land.

"That's better!" said Summer. "Thanks, Elsa!"

Elsa nodded.

Rapunzel walked over to her. "Thanks for helping me."

"I didn't help you. I froze you under the ice," Elsa said bluntly.

"You did. Eugene and I wouldn't have gotten out of there if you hadn't stopped the current. You were smart. Thanks."

Elsa nodded. "You're welcome."

Rapunzel heard a sharp intake of breath coming from behind her. She turned around quickly (which resulted with her becoming quite dizzy) and saw Kaara with her eyes closed, as if in pain.

"Kaara?" Rapunzel asked. "Are you all right?"

"Emotionally, or physically?" Kaara responded through gritted teeth.

"Physically, I suppose," said Rapunzel. She gasped as Kaara lifted her dress to reveal a cut on her leg. "Oh! Here, let me help you."

"Okay." Kaara looked at everyone else. "We'll leave once we're done here. Let's go a little farther away." She gestured towards the guards.

Rapunzel nodded. They went to some tree stumps just out of sight and sat down next to each other. "Do you have an onion?" She gave a small smile.

Kaara chuckled. "Actually, I do."

"Always prepared for the worst, aren't you?"

"Guess so." Kaara took an onion out of her pocket, along with the same pocketknife as before.

Rapunzel took them, and soon enough, her eyes had begun to water. She took the folds of her dress and wiped the water from her eyes before wiping them onto Kaara's leg.

"How did you get cut?" Rapunzel asked. She could hear soft conversation from behind them.

"Must've been when I dove in after you," said Kaara. "The edges of that pool weren't the smoothest. No offense to Elsa, of course." She smiled.

"Oh," said Rapunzel. She was lost in thought for a moment before saying hurriedly, "Let's do this." She then sang the healing song she'd been taught by her… "mother" so long ago.

Rapunzel opened her eyes (she'd closed them when she started singing) and looked down at Kaara's leg, expecting it to be completely healed (a small scar at most). What she was not expecting was to see a half-healed cut, still red, blood not dried.

"What?" she said. "You should have been healed completely!"

Kaara frowned. "That's odd. It should have worked."

"Maybe I didn't put enough tears!" Rapunzel fretted. "Maybe I didn't sing the song right!"

"No, Rapunzel, you did everything right; for some reason, it didn't work," said Kaara.

"Oh, no…" Rapunzel muttered.

Eugene wandered over to them just at that moment. Upon hearing his wife's urgent tone, rushed over more quickly.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"I didn't heal Kaara completely!" Rapunzel exclaimed, lunging at him.

"Whoa! Hold on!" Eugene caught his wife and stood her up straight. "What?"

"Kaara got cut but it only got half-healed!" Rapunzel exclaimed.

"Oh…." Eugene now understood the urgency in her voice. "That's… that's not very good, is it?"

"It very well could mean the difference between life and death, Eugene!" Rapunzel almost yelled. "What if the next time someone gets hurt, I try to heal them, but it doesn't work as well as it should, like now? What if it doesn't work at _all_?!"

"Calm down! Rapunzel! _Rapunzel_!" At these words, the princess stopped yelling. "Rapunzel!" Eugene continued. "Just… calm down."

Rapunzel looked into his hazel eyes and nodded. "I'm calm now."

"Okay. Now, this doesn't mean what it might mean. Plus, you need rest. Why don't you get a little sleep, and we can think things through, and then we can go on?" Eugene suggested calmly.

"But—but the _twins_, Eugene!" Rapunzel nearly shouted again.

"I—" Eugene gulped. "I know, Blondie. But we can't get to them if you're unable to do anything, Rapunzel! Just… twenty minutes, okay? That good enough?"

"I—"

"Rapunzel?"

Rapunzel nodded. "Fine. But only twenty minutes."

"All right, then. Come on." Eugene led them back to the others. "Here—" He grabbed some blankets from out of a satchel on one of the horses. "Go. Sleep. Now."

"But don't wake me up _any later_ than that," Rapunzel said in a threatening tone of voice.

"I won't," Eugene assured her.

Rapunzel sighed before laying the blankets out on the ground, and then laying on top of them herself, falling asleep almost instantly.

She didn't know it, but when Eugene did wake her up, it was one minute longer than she had asked.

* * *

Soon enough (or rather, not soon enough, in Rapunzel's mind), they were all on the road again. Fortunately for her, no questions concerning her powers were asked by the royal guard, though they were probably wondering why Kaara's wound was now half-healed. They'd been following the trail that Maximus had picked up from the bank of the river they were now on (surprisingly, it had not disappeared from the water). Elsa had thawed the river. And they were back on the trail.

What seemed like hours later, they were lead through a curtain of ivy, and entered a valley that was very, _very_ familiar to two certain people and two certain animals.

"That's—that's my tower!" exclaimed Rapunzel, astonished. Everyone stopped.

Eugene gaped up at the looming building, towering… yes, towering… above them. "I know, Blondie."

"Don't call me that," said Rapunzel, still staring up at it.

"You don't usually object to your nickname," replied her husband.

"I am now."

There was silence as everyone gazed at the magnificence of it. It was, in one word, huge. Well, tall and thin. It sat inside a valley, with the beautiful greens and blues and infinite colors of nature. A stream trickled nearby.

"So this is your tower," said Kaara.

Rapunzel nodded.

"Wow."

"This is the place I died," said Eugene.

"You didn't die," contradicted Rapunzel.

"Yes, I did. I was dead for like five seconds before you brought me back to life."

"But you didn't die."

"I know what I did. You don't. You didn't experience it…." Eugene's voice trailed off into silence.

They all kept staring at the tower for a few more seconds before Maximus started walking forwards, into the valley. The others followed, the guards close behind. Max sniffed the air, and then put his nose to the ground, causing Eugene to slide slightly, but by now he was used to it; the horse had been doing that for the better part of the journey, following the scent of the wolves and the people they were trying to find.

"Night's on its way," noted Kaara from atop her horse, once they were at the base of the tower, all staring up at it again.

"Yeah," said Eugene. "We'll have to stop for the night."

"This is taking longer than I thought it would," grunted Kristoff. Kaara gave him a contradicting look.

"Really?"

"Yes!" said Kristoff.

Kaara sighed, deciding not to argue any further. They were tired enough already, and she, too, was sick of this.

"Maybe we could spend the night in the tower," Nathan suggested. They all looked at him. He hadn't talked much at all during this journey. "You guys said there's a secret passageway here when you told us your story a while ago, right?"

Eugene nodded. "It might be a good idea… but some of us ought to go and check if it's safe."

"I'll go," said Rapunzel.

"Rapunzel—" protested Eugene.

"I'm perfectly capable of things, Eugene," Rapunzel interrupted him. "I've had plenty of rest since I fell into that river. I'll be fine."

Eugene sighed. "Anyone else? It shouldn't be more than three people, though."

"I'll go," offered Nathan.

Eugene nodded. "Okay. If we're not back in fifteen minutes, someone come up for us. 'Kay?"

They all nodded.

"'Kay, let's go." Eugene, Rapunzel, and Nathan all slid off their horses and walked around to the other side of the tower—but not before grabbing some frying pans (at least, Eugene and Rapunzel did).

"Here it is," said Rapunzel. They were looking at a rocky opening, with ivy covering a lot of it. The princess then pushed aside the ivy and climbed inside.

Eugene and Nathan looked at each other.

"After you," they said at the same time.

"Fine. I'll go," offered Nathan, and followed Rapunzel into the hole, and Eugene climbed in as well.

It was dark in there, but they could all see that they were now on a tight, steep, stone spiral staircase. They climbed up it in silence. It was eerie in there, like a cave. Rapunzel knew that Gothel had gotten up to the tower this way before her hair was long enough to pull her up with, and she couldn't imagine how she had been able to handle the darkness of it. Then again, there would have been light at that point, of course. There was not a single lit torch (though of course, it had been years and years since this tower had been used and obviously no need for light up until now).

It seemed like forever before they reached the end. Rapunzel had kept on walking until she felt her head bump into something. "Ow!" She took one step backwards and looked above her. Light was shining through the cracks in a wooden trapdoor.

Rapunzel opened it with a creak and stepped up the remaining stairs and into a room she had thought she would never be in again—a room she had tried so hard to forget.

She was back in her tower.

Rapunzel suddenly felt her knees buckle. The emotions coursing through her right now were unexplainable, or rather, indescribable. Her hair, now brown, was strewn across the floor. There were the shattered remains of the mirror. There were paintings all along the walls. And she saw Eugene's blood on the floor nearby the window.

Rapunzel drew in a shaky breath and collapsed. She felt strong arms catch her, and turned around and buried her face into Eugene's chest. It was all too much… these memories that she had tried so hard to forget….

Eugene stroked her short hair. "It's okay, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel looked up and took a deep breath and nodded. "I—I just—this place—"

"I know, Rapunzel, I know," said Eugene. "Now come on, once we have a look around, we can go straight back down."

"And then we'll have to come back up here…." Rapunzel took a shuddering breath. "Okay. I'll… I'll go check my room."

Eugene nodded. "Okay."

Rapunzel gave a small smile before gently pulling away from him and stepping up the stairs, sliding the hand that was not holding a frying pan along the banister. This place… it was just… like out of a nightmare. A nightmare in disguise… a nightmare pretending to be a dream.

And then she entered her room. The bed was still made; the paintings still adorned the walls; it was just as she remembered. Rapunzel walked over and sat down on the bed and looked around. There didn't seem to be anything wrong up here. It was dark; come to think of it, it hadn't been dark downstairs. That was odd… as though someone had been here recently….

"Eugene," she muttered, a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Who's been here so recently the light is still on down there…."

* * *

Eugene walked around the room, checking every nook and cranny he could find that could lead to some potential danger (spiders, such as black widows, could very possibly have infested the tower, and he did not want to risk anyone being bitten—Rapunzel did have her powers, but they had proven to be not as, well, powerful as usual), but he could find nothing.

"All right, better see what Rapunzel's up to and then head back down. It's safe enough up here, I reckon," said Eugene, straightening his back from bending over to inspect a short, wide pot.

Nathan nodded from where he was checking something out for himself. "'Kay."

"Now, Rapunzel should be that-a-way, so I'll just—" Eugene had turned around, about to step up the staircase, but froze in his place. Because two certain people he'd hoped never to see again were standing right in front of him—towering over him, more like—and he was the most surprised man there ever could be.

"Oh," he said in a scared voice. "Uh… hey, guys, hi…."

The two hulking figures of the Stabbington Brothers loomed above him, their nearly identical faces both wearing expressions of anger that would bring fear even into people who used to be called Flynn Rider. One with an eye-patch, one with sideburns (which was what Eugene called them in his head—he'd never actually learned their real names), the twins were the last people he had expected to see up here.

"What are you doing here, Rider?" asked Sideburns.

Eugene stood up a little taller. "What are _you_ doing here?" he said.

"I asked you first," said Sideburns darkly. He leaned a little closer. "What are you doing here?" he repeated.

"Uh—well, I was just hoping to, um, check the place out, you know, stuff like that," said Eugene. He knew he was grasping at straws here, but these guys were really scary and it was hard to think straight with them staring down at you as though they were going to murder you.

Sideburns raised his eyebrows. "You're not welcome here."

"I think I'm more welcome here than you are, guys," said Eugene, the Flynn side of him coming out briefly, even in his moment of fear.

"Oh, really?" sneered Sideburns.

"Yes, really," said Eugene. "I am the wife of the girl who lives here!" The "lives" part was a lie, as Rapunzel was now living in the castle, but whatever.

"What do you mean?" questioned Sideburns.

"Princess Rapunzel," said Eugene haughtily. "Of Corona," he added as an afterthought.

"_She_ lived here?" said Sideburns.

"Yes, she did…."

Suddenly, Sideburns's face went red with obvious anger. "That witch told us her hair had powers. You stole her from us, Rider. And now you're going to pay." He advanced on Eugene, creeping closer and closer to him.

Eugene backed away. "Uh, Nate, a little help here…."

Apparently, the Sideburns and Eyepatch had not noticed Nathan. Eugene supposed he'd just… blended in really well with the background, or something. He'd also forgotten him up until that point.

But he didn't get an answer.

"Nate…" Eugene said, panic in his voice. "Blondie? Anyone? Ah!" He let out a squeal of terror as Sideburns leapt at him. He bent his knees, hands shielding his face, waiting for the impact.

But it didn't come. Instead came two large whacking sounds. Eugene carefully opened his eyes without realizing he'd shut them in the first place, moving his hands away from his face, and saw to his utter relief that none other than Rapunzel stood there, out of breath, a frying pan in her hands. She pulled him up from the ground.

"Thanks, Blondie," Eugene said gratefully to her.

"Be more careful next time, Eugene," replied Rapunzel. "And my name is _not_ Blondie!"

"Fine. Thanks, Rapunzel, for saving my neck when I couldn't have done anything about it," Eugene said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"She's right, you know," said Nathan, coming up from behind Rapunzel.

"What? You were in on this too?" Eugene said, annoyed.

"Not exactly. I'd seen those two," he gestured towards the Stabbington Brothers, "with you, and Rapunzel whispered to me to stay back. Then she hit them."

Eugene looked at Rapunzel. "Well… thanks anyways, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel gave a small smile. "You're welcome. Now, what are we going to do with these two?"

"I think the more pressing question is how and why did they get here," said Nathan.

Eugene shook his head. "I have no clue on any of that."

"Hmm," said Rapunzel. "Well, when they wake up we could see if they want to help us out on our journey?"

"They just tried to _kill_ me!" shouted Eugene.

"I know that, but we could see if they'll change their ways, you know?" said Rapunzel.

"I know these two, and they will never ever change their ways," said Eugene.

"We could, you know, keep them tied up and question them," suggested Nathan.

Eugene looked at him. "That might be our best option. But how are we going to tie them up? They're huge!"

"Well…." Nathan scratched the back of his neck. "We could get Kristoff to help, and, you know, Elsa's powers might be useful…."

Eugene nodded. "Yeah, I guess so. Listen, you guys head down and bring the others up here, and I'll make sure these two don't cause any trouble, all right?"

"No. They're after your guts, aren't they?" said Rapunzel. "I'll stay here. I can use my frying pan if they wake up again."

"No," cut in Nathan. "I'll stay. You guys are more important. I'll use my frying pan if I have to. You go down. I'll stay up here."

"But—" said Rapunzel.

"No, just go. It'll only be a few minutes, anyway." With that, Nathan walked over to the enormous figures of the brothers lying on the ground, frying pan raised, ready to strike. "Go," he said, when neither Rapunzel nor Eugene moved. "Hurry, they might wake up soon."

Rapunzel and Eugene exchanged looks before shrugging and going back to the trapdoor. They climbed into it and carefully walked down the spiral staircase and out into the open air, both of them wondering what in the world they had gotten themselves into.

* * *

**A/N: So now you wonder no longer what happened to those Stabbinton brothers.**

**But not all of it.**

***evil laughter***


	18. Chapter 18: The Cliff Scene

**A/N: Hello, y'all. No, I'm not from Texas, but I did visit there the other day—because my family and I have been on a road trip, which sort of accounts for the fact that I haven't been able to post any chapters very recently. I will be in Disneyworld and Harry Potter world for the next five or six—I think six—days, so I won't be able to get any writing done. I don't know when I'll be able to post next. Anyways… I hope you like this chapter. *laughs mysteriously/evilly***

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING FROM THE TWO MOVIES I JUST WATCHED A FEW NIGHTS AGO ("FROZEN" AND "TANGLED"), OR EVEN A MOVIE THAT I DIDN'T WATCH BUT IS KIND OF MENTIONED IN THIS CHAPTER—"BRAVE."**

**Enjoy! :D**

* * *

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

**THE CLIFF SCENE**

Rapunzel and Eugene headed back to the trapdoor and uneasily climbed back inside, into the suffocating darkness and tightness of the stone staircase. After a little while, they saw light permeate the black. It quickly turned brighter until they were at the opening of the passageway.

They stumbled out rather quickly, Rapunzel nearly falling onto Eugene. He barely caught himself in time before he fell onto the grass. Rapunzel scrambled up behind him. He turned around and helped her up. She gave a soft smile up at him before standing up straight and looking around.

"Where are they?" she asked.

Eugene pointed. "Over there."

They stepped over to where the rest of the group was congregated. They were all sitting down on the ground—actually, everyone but the guards. They looked like they were eating some apples. Brennon and Kaara were talking together, and Kristoff was glowering over at them.

Brennon looked up as they approached. He gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry. Couldn't resist," he said, holding up his half-eaten apple.

"That's fine," said Rapunzel.

"Where's Nathan?" asked Kaara, turning to look up at her.

"Back at the tower," said Eugene, pointing. He promptly grabbed an apple out of a nearby sack and sat down next to them and continued talking with his mouth full of fruit, "Guess what we found there? The Stabbington brothers."

Brennons eyebrows furrowed. "Who?"

Eugene looked at him incredulously. "Two of the most famous thieves in Europe?"

Brennon shook his head. "Never heard of them, but okay."

"I teamed up with them back in the day," Eugene continued. "And somehow, they ended up in that tower."

Elsa looked up from the unbitten apple in she was playing with nervously in her hands. "Who?"

"The Stabbington brothers," said Eugene. "Actually, they escaped about a month or so before Anna and Kristoff's wedding. They were in jail."

Elsa had a curious expression on her face. "Hmm. That's odd. I remember hearing about three red-haired men escaping jail around that time… one of them was Hans."

"Hmm." Eugene's brow furrowed. "Those two have red hair. Maybe they were the other two."

"Maybe," said Elsa.

"Speaking of which, they're still up there. I knocked them out with a frying pan, but I'm not sure the effects will last long," said Rapunzel suddenly. "Nathan's making sure they don't cause any trouble. He has a frying pan with him, but if those two wake up, I'm not sure what they would do to him…."

"We'll still be staying the night in the tower," added Eugene. "But we need to deal with those two first."

Elsa nodded. "All right, then. Let's go."

Eugene stood up and tossed his apple core aside. When Rapunzel gave him a reprimanding look, he said simply, "It's good fertilizer." She shook her head, her eyes closed and mouth turned up slightly in amusement.

Eugene then led them all to the base of the tower. One by one, they all climbed inside the staircase. The guards tethered the horses to some nearby trees and came in last.

Soon enough, the train of people started popping out of the floor of the tower, one by one. Nathan was holding his frying pan over the fortunately unconscious Stabbington brothers. He lowered it a little bit when he saw the others come up.

"Hey," he said as Rapunzel and Eugene came over to him and the big twins. "They woke up, and I ended up having to knock them out again. Just so you know."

Eugene nodded. "Now, as for tying these guys up…."

"Rapunzel, is this your _hair_?" asked Kaara in awe, bending down to see the long, thick, brown remains of Rapunzel's previously golden locks.

Rapunzel nodded. "Yep."

Brennon looked at her in shock. "It is? What happened to it?"

Rapunzel gave a small chuckle. "It's a… long story."

"And we'll have to tell it later, because we need to tie these two up," interrupted Eugene. "So how is this gonna work out?"

"Elsa?" Rapunzel asked tentatively. "Do you think you could maybe do something with your ice powers?"

Elsa seemed to shrink a little. "I—don't know. Look what I did to the river back there."

"You also fixed it, and probably saved both Eugene's and my life," said Rapunzel. "I'll think it'll be okay."

"I'm not sure," said Elsa in a small voice.

"Hey, guys, there's some rope over here," came Nathan's voice from the other side of the room. He held up his hand. Indeed, a long string of brown rope was dangling from his hands.

"You're sure that's not hair, right?" asked Kaara, walking over.

"Pretty sure," said Nathan. He gave a small smile.

"You're right, it's regular rope all right," said Kaara.

Nathan walked over to the brothers, still holding the rope. He then began tying them up together, after sitting them up on the floor. Kristoff and Eugene came over to help. Brennon and the guards tried to, but it turned out to be way too many people, so only Brennon stayed. Finally, the Stabbington brothers were nicely tied up, well enough so that they couldn't get out of the rope if they tried.

"Great," said Rapunzel. "Now to wake them up… or wait until they wake up on their own."

Pascal peeked out from her shoulder and climbed down her back. He reappeared on one of the brothers' shoulders and proceeded to stick his tongue into his ear, and then doing the other one.

The Stabbingtons both jerked awake, giving shouts of surprise. "Hey! Wha—who—what are all of you doing here?!" the one Eugene thought of as Sideburns shouted in his gruff voice. He tried to stand up, before realizing that he couldn't. "What—Rider!"

Eugene put his hands up in surrender. "Sorry, guys. And by the way, I had help."

"Wha—what?" Now the Stabbington was just confused.

Rapunzel stepped over to them and bent down to their eye level.

"You again!" shouted Sideburns.

"Yes, me," said Rapunzel.

"What—why are we tied up? Why are so many people—why is the royal guard here?!" said Sideburns frantically.

"So you can't go anywhere," said Rapunzel. "We have a few questions to ask you."

"What?" said Sideburns. "We couldn't leave this place, anyway."

Rapunzel's expression of superiority vanished. "You—why can't you leave?"

Sideburns shrugged. "No idea, otherwise we would've been gone months ago. At least I think it's a month… lost count of the days… all because of that witch." He muttered this last part to himself.

Rapunzel cocked her head. "Witch?"

"Yeah, witch," said Sideburns. "Changed our fates, all right. Changed 'em for the worst."

"Witch? Changing fates? What aren't you telling me?" Rapunzel asked.

"I ain't telling you nothing," said Sideburns stubbornly.

"Oh, you're going to," said Rapunzel threateningly. She held her frying pan in front of her face. "I have ways to make you tell me a whole lot of things. See, my cousin over there, Elsa, has ice powers. _Dangerous_ ice powers. She can freeze people's hearts."

Sideburns gulped.

"I bet you've heard of her, haven't you?" Rapunzel continued. "Otherwise you'd be trying to tell me that that's not true."

"She won't do anything to us," said Sideburns. "We heard stories about her. Yeah, we did. But we know she's a softy. Wouldn't hurt a fly."

Elsa cleared her throat. "I would hurt a fly, you know."

"You would?" asked Kaara.

"Yes, if it was bothering me," said Elsa.

Sideburns and Eyepatch looked at them, very confused—and annoyed.

"Are you done now?" Sideburns asked. "Or do we have to stay tied up for another hour?"

"Say anything else like that, and I will you this," Rapunzel said threateningly. She shoved her frying pan in front of his face.

He looked at it uncertainly. Rapunzel pulled away.

"Fine," he relented. "What do you want to know?"

"How, and why, did you end up in this tower in the first place?" Rapunzel asked.

Sideburns gulped. "Didn't want to be here. We were magicked to this place."

Kaara's eyebrows furrowed. "Why haven't you left yet?"

"Can't, can't we?" said Sideburns. "When we got here, we found this passage. Same place you came out of, I think. We tried to leave the valley, but the second we touched the walls of the cave down there—" he jerked his head in the direction of the window, which faced the said cave "—we were both shoved back with some invisible barrier. We came back up here for the night. We've got food from the animals around here. All the stuff in here's moldy." He wrinkled his nose, as though a bad smell was under it. "Basically it, until you guys came along."

"What do you mean by being 'magicked' here?" Rapunzel asked.

Sideburns licked his lips. "There was this witch, see," he said. "We heard of her from the other guys in jail with us. They said she would be able to give us what we want—change our fates—for the right price. We went to her. She wanted some 'third One.' So we got someone who we thought would fit the bill—someone who wanted something desperately. Wanted their fate to be changed. We went and got him and brought him to her. And then she sent us here. Changed our fates, all right… a hanging would've been better." He muttered this last part to himself.

"Who was this 'third One'?" Rapunzel asked curiously.

Sideburns stared into her eyes. "Our brother, ex-prince—with a thirst for revenge on miss Snow Queen over here." He turned to look right at Elsa. "Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."

Elsa's expression turned to one of complete and total shock. So did everyone else's, but none so much as hers.

"He's your _brother_?" Kaara asked incredulously.

"You're a _prince_?!" Eugene exclaimed, almost—enviously—in a betrayed tone of voice.

"That's right, Rider," said Sideburns. "A prince."

"But you—what?!" Eugene was completely and utterly confused. "Why didn't you tell me? Why would you turn from prince to thief?"

Sideburns glared at him. "We were tenth and eleventh in line," he said darkly. "We needed to get out. We wanted a kingdom of our own. It was too much of a wait. We went to stealing. A freer life. We wanted your pretty little wife's crown. We wanted the money her hair would fetch. We wanted everything."

There was silence.

"So, we answered enough of your questions?" Sideburns asked.

"Yes…" Rapunzel said carefully. "But… you can't leave this place. We might be able to help."

Eugene looked at her furiously, as if to say, "What are you doing?!"

"If," Rapunzel continued, "you promise to help us in return."

"Rapunzel," Kaara said, "how do you intend to get them out of this valley? By the looks of it, there's some kind of magical barrier keeping them in here."

"If they're trapped here, we might be, too," piped up Nathan.

Kaara furrowed her eyebrows. "Hmm. Maybe. That would not be good."

"Darn right it wouldn't." Eugene turned to the Stabbington brothers and looked at them viciously. "Listen up, you two. My kids are out there somewhere, and if it's your fault we're never gonna get to them and they'll die somewhere with a bunch of wolves, I swear I will—"

"Eugene!" exclaimed Rapunzel. Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears.

Eugene stopped. He turned from Rapunzel back to the Stabbingtons.

"What?" Sideburns said. "Kids? You aren't honestly telling me that you're a father?"

"I am," Eugene said gravely. "And they're missing. So if you trapped us here—"

"Eugene," Rapunzel said again, this time much more gently, "if we _are_ trapped here, it isn't their fault."

"We weren't magicked here, like them," Kaara added. "We came here of our own free will. We might be able to leave of our own free will."

Eugene sighed. "All right… but if they can help us, they will. If not, the royal guard will just take them back to where they belong."

"Maybe so," said Rapunzel, "but we need to see if they can leave."

"But we can't," Sideburns said insistently. "It's impossible. Soon enough all the animals in this valley will find out not to cross us and we'll starve to death. Just don't bother us, will you?"

"No," Rapunzel said stubbornly. "I can't let you die. If we can figure out a way for you to get out, we will."

"But for now," said Kaara, "we need to get to sleep. We have a big day tomorrow. If you can, misters…."

"Stabbington," said Sideburns.

"…Stabbington," Kaara continued, "you are coming with us."

"What are your actual names, anyway?" Rapunzel asked curiously.

"James," said Sideburns. "Oliver and James."

* * *

Soon enough, everyone was wrapped up in some sort of blanket and found somewhere to sleep. Rapunzel and Eugene decided to take Rapunzel's old bed, while nobody wanted to sleep in Gothel's old room. The Stabbington brothers (also known as former princes Oliver and James) were given some blankets as well, and slunk away to a corner. One of the guards offered to stay on watch in case they made any moves to escape—he did not completely believe everything Sideburns—also known as James—had said.

Morning came. One by one, they all woke up. And it was time to start walking again. They all climbed into the passageway and out again at the bottom. They had to climb out of the other end of the valley—a pathway was visible to climb up.

"You sure you wanna trust us?" Sideburns—James—said gruffly, just as they were about to leave the valley.

"I'm sure," Rapunzel replied unwaveringly.

James shook his head. "All right, then. This is the way we went." He started on the pathway leading up and out of the valley towards higher ground.

The others all followed after him, including Oliver. But not even halfway up (when it wasn't very steep—it would get much steeper very soon), James took a step forward, but suddenly stumbled back as though punched.

He grunted and stood up—he had fallen to the ground. "Told you. Can't go past."

"Hmm." Kaara walked forward and passed through the spot James had fallen back at. She got several paces in front of that point before saying, "I can go."

"Yay!" said Olaf. Surprisingly, he and Summer hadn't said much in the past little while.

Kaara looked at him. "Yes, but apparently James and Oliver can't go past themselves."

"Oh." Olaf looked confused.

"Is he a hunter?" Summer asked. "Maybe he killed animals in the woods and then ate them alive and this is his punishment."

The brothers looked at the snowlady incredulously.

"You'll get used to it," said Kaara.

They turned to her. "So we can't go past," said James.

"No, you can," said Kaara. "We just have to figure out how." She looked from him, to the invisible barrier, and back to him, before grabbing his thick arm and pulling him forward.

"Wait! It won't—hey!" James grinned, because he had just gone past this invisible barrier. "It worked."

"Just needed to experiment a little bit," said Kaara.

He looked at her. "Thanks," he said gruffly.

"You're welcome," Kaara replied unblushingly.

Oliver started walking forward, but was then pushed back.

"Hold on," said Kaara. "I think you might need to touch one of us in order to get past."

Nathan took a step in the direction of Elsa, as though to keep Oliver away from her. No one missed the gesture.

"I'll go!" said Summer.

"Me, too!" added Olaf.

Oliver eyed them warily.

"Here." Elsa suddenly walked forward, grabbed Oliver's arm (which instantly grew ice-cold), and walked right next to Kaara and James.

"Well there we go," said Rapunzel.

"Yeah." Eugene scratched his head. Then he shook it to clear it. "Come on, let's get a move on."

Everyone then started walking up to the others and started climbing again.

"So what's this about saving your kids?" James asked Eugene as they climbed along the increasingly steep pathway.

"Oh," said Eugene. "Well… it's kind of a long story… but in a nutshell, wolves attacked the castle, and they were gone."

James snorted. "And you think they're still alive?"

"I know they are," Eugene said. But in his heart of hearts… he wasn't quite sure he believed that himself.

* * *

Elsa, who was at the back of the group, a little farther away from the person ahead of her (Brennon), was struggling. Climbing up the side of a valley in a long dress isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world to do. At one point she almost fell over, but caught herself just in time.

"You okay?" came Nathan's voice from just behind her.

Elsa closed her eyes and breathed in and out, in and out. "I'm fine, Nathanial," she said through gritted teeth.

"It was only a question," he said.

Elsa sighed. Not concentrating properly, she suddenly stumbled and started teetering on the edge of the path. Her stomach dropped.

She felt warm hands catch her around her waist. She turned around. Nathan smiled softly at her.

"Caught you," he said.

Elsa tried to keep the flow of emotions coming from her in check. She needed to stay calm. Nathan was infuriating her. But he was also enchanting her. But he was infuriating her. But enchanting. Oh, it was all too much—

"You all right? You're, uh… snowing."

Nathan was right, as Elsa was not pleased to see. She tried to think of the feeling she had for Anna, but the snow would not disappear. She growled.

"Here. Let me—"

"Enough, Nathan," Elsa said through gritted teeth.

"Elsa, you're—"

"Nathan—" Elsa's eyes were closed as she stepped forward—and upward.

"Elsa, _watch out_!"

Elsa's eyes flew open as she felt her heart stop. She was sliding down the cliff.

"Elsa!" Nathan ran over to her and attempted to catch her, but she was already on her way down.

Elsa screamed. A split second before she hit the ground, she created an icy pool filled with melted ice and landed in it with a loud _splat_.

Furious with herself, still not finished processing the fact that she had not fallen to her death, Elsa spat water out of her mouth before making the water she swam in disappear. Then she created a growing platform beneath her, bringing her as high up as she had been before her fall.

"Elsa, are you—"

"I'm fine, Nathan," Elsa said sharply.

"But are you—"

"That's enough." Elsa was growing very angry now, as she started to walk forward. The others hadn't seemed to have noticed her fall.

"Elsa—"

"Just _stop_!" Elsa shouted. With a sudden drop of twenty degrees in the air, she shot ice from her hands. Nathan ducked. The ice froze on the sides of the valley, but didn't hit anyone—everyone else was higher up—but the damage was done.

"Elsa?" Nathan said in a small voice.

"Nathan, I—" Elsa gulped. "You need to stop. This… this isn't working out."

"What?" Nathan asked.

Elsa had stopped walking. "I—this thing we have—it isn't working out for me. You're just too… overprotective with everything I do. I can't… it isn't…."

"Elsa… what are you… saying?"

"Nathan, we can't keep doing what… what we're doing." Elsa closed her eyes and sighed. "We can't be… whatever we are anymore."

There was silence as the magnitude of Elsa's words weighed in.

"Oh," Nathan said in a small voice.

Elsa looked at him. "I—I'm sorry. But I can't do this." And then she walked away, up the side of the hill, the valley, and away from Nathan. Away forever.

* * *

Nathan was shocked. Shocked at how sudden this had come. Shocked because Elsa had never been like _this_ before. He did not know what to think.

Soon enough, the climb up the side of the valley was over. They were on flat ground again. They started riding the horses again. For a while, they rode. And for that same while, Nathan thought, and wondered, and regretted. After they decided to sleep for the night, he wandered off to collect firewood, be alone with his thoughts.

_What just happened?_ he wondered. _Elsa… she…._

But before he could finish his own thought, Nathan heard screaming.

"Elsa!" he yelled, and instantly ran off in that direction.

He ran, following the female scream, until he came to a small cottage. He stopped. And then the screaming started up again. Not thinking about what he was doing, a tree branch still in his hands, he ran into the cottage.

And what he saw was not good. At all.

The screaming had stopped. A girl in a red cloak lay unconscious on the floor. Four wolves stood over her. A woman, dressed up like a grandmother would, stood over them by the bed.

Nathan had never been particularly brave. His soldiering days did not improve his fears. But his days with Elsa had made him realize that he could be afraid and brave at the same time—he just had to face his fear with a strong heart. The time that Elsa had almost died proved that to him.

Nathan raised his tree branch threateningly. "What did you do to that girl?" he asked.

"She'll be… all right," said the woman. She took off a gray wig and revealed her true self—piercing green eyes, long, shimmering black hair, smooth, high-cheek-boned face. "Just… asleep… to a degree…."

"What did you do to her?" Nathan repeated.

"Like I said, she's… sort of asleep," said the woman. She bent down and stroked the girl's cheek.

"You mean she's dead?"

"No, not dead. I don't need her to be dead. I don't need anyone to be dead… at least not her. Or you. But you're here right now—that's a problem. And I can't have problems like you." The woman stood up.

"Wolves, attack," she said.

Nathan yelled out. The wolves pounced

Pain seared through his arm. He stumbled and fell to the floor. His arm bled. He looked down. Not again…. The woman knelt down and stroked his grimacing face.

"What—did you do—to me?" he asked. Something strange was going through him. He was feeling odd… painful… the feeling was going from the wound in his arm… right towards the tips of his hairs and toes… right towards his heart… a feeling… of power.

The woman stared her piercing green eyes into Nathan's deep blue ones.

"You're becoming one of me," she said. As Nathan felt the life—was it life, or the control of his life?—slip out of him, she said two words in a very soft voice.

"Good dog."


	19. Chapter 19: The Girl with the Red Cloak

**A/N: Hey, guys. Yeah, it's been a while since I last posted… like, a long while… a long, loooooooooooooooooong while….**

**Anyways, yeah, this is a short one, but at least it's something… we're getting close to the end… so, sooooo close….**

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Happy Thanksgiving to those of you who celebrate it! To those of you who don't, then simply have a HAPPY DAY!**

**Read on!**

* * *

**CHAPTER NINETEEN**

**THE GIRL WITH THE RED CLOAK**

_"__See the moon set all aglow,_

"_Watch its light shine to and fro._

"_All the birds are quiet now,_

"_Soon they will rise tall and proud._

"_Hear the river rushing by,_

"_See it reflect the moonlit sky."_

The woman gently stroked the small child's dark brown hair as he looked up at her curiously, tiny in her strong arms, and she stared into those soft brown eyes.

"_Smell the air, so fresh and clean,_

"_Let yourself fly through the dream._

"_Feel the dirt beneath your feet,_

"_As your body and mind meet._

"_Know you're safe with me, my child,_

"_My precious baby, meek and mild."_

The woman completed the song with a note as sweet as honey. She bent down and kissed the baby's forehead.

"Poor babe…" she said softly as the little boy's eyes closed. "So far away from home…. Both of you…." She looked to a nearby pile of leaves, on which a little baby girl, barely half a year old, lay surrounded by long locks of golden hair, sleeping peacefully.

She suddenly heard the sound of barking and looked up, fury showing on her beautiful face.

"_Quiet. You'll wake them both,"_ she said to the wolf in a strange language, a howling, barking sort of which no human but she could understand, who had come running up to her. Several others stood behind it, but backed away at her sharp tone of voice, for even in barks could be growls.

The wolf whimpered, but then barked at her much more quietly.

"_Humans and horses are near us."_

The woman frowned, setting the boy down next to the girl.

"_Of what status are they?"_

"_Royal. Guards, too,"_ yapped the wolf.

"After the prince and princess…." The woman muttered this aloud to herself in a language the wolf could not understand. Hearing her words, it tipped its head back curiously.

"_What?"_

"_Nothing," _the woman barked, as though coming out of a trance. "_Bring me the girl."_

The wolf bowed its head before barking out to the wolves behind him. It ran away, the others following closely behind.

_Let them come… it is time._

* * *

Elsa kept her gaze straight forward in front of her at the space cleared out for a fire that had not yet been made, not looking back—on Nathan, her decision, her… her what? She didn't know what to think. But there was no turning back on what she had just done—not now, not ever. There could be no way that she could have anything to do with Nathan White ever again—at least, in the form she had had before.

Everything had been much too rushed, anyway.

"Whoa—Elsa, watch out, you're snowing," came Kristoff's voice from behind her. Not turning her head, she heard him plop down onto a log beside her.

Elsa gave a wave of her hand. However, instead of getting rid of the snow, she made more fall down on her—and now Kristoff, too. She didn't feel like loving anything, or anyone, at the moment.

"Elsa?" said Kristoff. "Something up?"

Elsa kept staring at the ground, which was steadily becoming blacker and blacker as the sun set below the horizon.

Kristoff cleared his throat. "Ahem, Elsa—your Majesty—Queen Elsa of Arendelle! Cut it out!" He waved a hand in front of her face. "Hello! Earth to Elsa! Earth to the Snow Queen!"

Elsa blinked and shivered. The snow still fell. They were alone right now; everyone else had gone off to do something… useful, apparently.

She turned her gaze towards Kristoff. Her eyes were red.

"Why?" she said in an out-of-the-blue strained voice. "Why are things so complicated? Why is _life_ so complicated? Why can't I just be a normal queen with normal problems?"

"I—I don't know," said Kristoff, taken by surprise.

"Hey, anyone seen Nathan recently?" asked Kaara of no one in particular, interrupting their conversation.

"He was getting firewood, I think," said Eugene.

"He's been gone for a while," Kaara noted worriedly.

"Yeah…" said Kristoff.

Kaara stood up from the tree stump on which she had been sitting. "I'll go after him."

Kristoff stood up as well. "No, you're not."

Kaara gave him an icy look nearly worthy of Elsa. "You're not the boss of me."

"But I'm your older brother, so I say no. Those woods are dangerous out there. You're not going."

Kaara put her hands on her hips. "We're already in the woods, Kristoff! Besides, you're being rather rude right now. Being a girl doesn't mean I can't do things."

"Well… if you're going, you can't go alone," said Kristoff stubbornly. "I'm going with you."

Kaara sighed. "Fine. Anyone else wanna come?"

No one said anything.

"All right, then," said Kaara. "Come on, Kristoff. Don't forget to bring your pan."

Kristoff mumbled something under his breath before grabbing the said cooking utensil/weapon, along with a lit lantern. Kaara took one as well. She put on the hood of her cloak and beckoned towards her brother.

"Come come, Kristoff. Let's go search for Elsa's boyfriend. Yack, what was that?!"

The temperature had just dropped what felt like twenty degrees. Everyone looked over at Elsa.

"Umm… Elsa?" said Rapunzel tentatively. "You okay?"

Elsa was staring at the empty fire pit. "Fine."

Rapunzel exchanged a look with Eugene. He shrugged.

"Okay, then," said Kaara, "we'll be off now. Come on, Kristoff." Rubbing her arms a bit, she grabbed her brother's arm, somehow managing to get a hold on it with her frying pan still clutched in her fingers.

He took one last look at the group before following behind her, leaving the others alone. The siblings stepped through the forest, and soon enough, the others had lost sight of them.

"One, two, three, four, five…" Kaara muttered, holding the lantern out in front of them as the forest got steadily darker all around them.

"What are you doing?" asked her brother.

"Making sure we don't get lost like Nathan," replied his sister, before continuing with her verbal counting.

"Oh."

There was silence for a while as they walked, except for the nearly unintelligible sound of Kaara's counting.

"Three hundred ninety-three, three hundred ninety-four—wait, what was that?"

Kaara stopped. The sun had now set completely, the sky almost completely the black shade known as night. The only light in front of them was that of the faint glow of the lantern swinging from Kaara's hand.

Kristoff nearly ran into her. "What was that for?"

"Shh," Kaara said urgently, putting a finger to her lips.

"No, seriously, I almost fell over y—"

"Be quiet!" Kaara whispered harshly.

Kristoff's protests faded away as the faint sound of growling filled his ears.

_Crap._

In sets of two, eyes even blacker than the forest around them appeared around the brother and sister, and with them came the faint but distinguishable sound of growling.

And then a very familiar yet highly inconvenient feeling came to Kristoff, a tickling sensation in his nose he had come to associate with sneezing.

_A-choo!_

"Kristoff…" Kaara said nervously.

"I'm sorry, I had to—"

"Kristoff, watch out!"

With a loud barking sound, a wolf lunged at the ice harvester, out of its place beside its fellows. With a _bang_ of metal on flesh, Kristoff hit the wolf with his frying pan. It tumbled back, rolling on the ground, unconscious.

That seemed be the cue for the other wolves to start attacking. There seemed to be six of them in all, not counting the one that had fallen to the ground, a half dozen of snarling, growling creatures.

Kristoff got a serious sense of de ja vu as he whacked at the creatures. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kaara hitting at them with extreme force and accuracy, much more so than he would have thought. But unlike the first wolf, these didn't fall unconscious immediately, and they were all around them. Kaara felt herself get scratched by a sharp claw near the other wound on her leg, and annoyance flashed within her. What was up with getting hurt on that leg, anyway?

But she, along with her brother, had more pressing matters to attend to.

"Ah!" came Kristoff's voice from behind her.

"Get scratched, too?" Kaara asked.

"Yeah," said her brother gruffly.

"Good times, huh?" said Kaara, shoving back a wolf with her boot.

"Is this the moment, Kaara?" Kristoff in inquired in an irked tone of voice, hitting a wolf upside the skull. It fell with a loud _thump_.

"Just trying to lighten up the mood."

"Well, could you not try so hard? We're kind of getting attacked by—ah!"

"Another scratch?" said Kaara.

"Yeah," said Kristoff.

"Tough luck."

"Yeah, right," said Kristoff sarcastically.

"Watch out!" Kaara yelled suddenly (again).

But it wasn't soon enough. Kristoff was knocked to the ground by a wolf, beside the bodies of its fellows. They were seeming to increase in numbers—or had been, at least. Now there were only three left, not counting the one that was now stepping right up to Kristoff, who was frozen in terror on the ground.

"Kristoff!" shouted Kaara.

Kristoff closed his eyes as the wolf came closer, its teeth bared in a snarl. Slobber dripped from them and onto Kristoff's face, and right now all he was hoping for was that the wolf would be quick in its next action. His sister watched in terror as the wolf came up to his face, being too preoccupied herself with the three wolves she was trying to fend off.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please," Kristoff said in a high-pitched voice, eyes closed, waiting for the pain of teeth puncturing flesh.

But it didn't come. Instead, a high-pitched howling sound came from amidst the trees. The wolves backed away slowly, and he saw a figure through the trees, a figure all in red.

A sort of barking sound followed the howling, and the remaining conscious wolves cleared away from Kaara and Kristoff, running back into the trees.

Kristoff blinked. Things were going fuzzy. The shape of the red-cloaked figure slowly came out of the trees towards him.

And then he blacked out.

* * *

Kaara stared at the cloaked figure coming towards her. She didn't even notice the fact that her brother had fallen unconscious beside her. And then, as the person came closer, she realized that it was a girl, fourteen years old at most, with black hair falling out onto her chest from inside the hood.

"It is all right now," said the girl, stopping only a few feet from Kaara. "The wolves are no threat anymore."

"Th-thank you," said Kaara.

"Why wouldn't I do it?" the girl said. Her voice was steady, but her face looked pained, even scared. Her dark eyes seemed to sparkle with tears that had not yet come to her eyes, but were begging to be shed.

"I don't know," said Kaara. She shook her head to clear it. "How did you know they were here?"

"We must go now, before more come," said the girl quickly, not answering Kaara's question. She looked down at Kristoff. "There is a stream nearby. I will go and get some water in your frying pan and bring him back to consciousness. It will not take long."

Kaara nodded. It was just then that she realized her mouth had been open, and she shut it quickly.

"I will be back in a moment," said the girl, taking Kristoff's frying pan from off the ground. With a swish of her cloak, she had walked off through the trees and disappeared.

Kaara stared at the spot she had disappeared for a moment, before turning back to Kristoff.

She knelt down beside him, muttering to herself, "Who was _that_?"

Just as she had said, a few minutes later, the girl was back, holding the frying pan out in front of her with both hands. Water waved inside it.

"I can now wake him up," she said, and Kaara backed away quickly before the girl could dump the water and accidentally splash her with it. She turned the pan over, and with a splash, the water had fallen onto Kristoff's face, and he yelled out.

"What was that for?!—whoa—who are _you_?" he asked, sitting up and wiping his eyes. His angry expression faded away into confusion.

"My name is Rosaline, but people call me Red," said the girl. "We must go now. Where is your campsite?"

"I—how do you know we have a campsite?" asked Kristoff.

"This way," said Kaara, and she started walking away from him.

The girl hesitated before starting to follow Kaara. "Come," she said, and started walking.

Kristoff muttered in annoyance to himself as he stood up, twisting his shirt to get the water out.

He hurried up to his sister quickly, in front of "Red," where he could talk to Kaara without being overheard.

"How do you know where we're going?" he asked, annoyance clearly etched in his voice.

"Instinct," his sister replied sarcastically.

"Instinct?"

"Fine, not exactly. Seventy-seven, seventy-eight—that clue enough for you?" said Kaara.

Kristoff mumbled something under his breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing," he muttered.

"All right, then," said Kaara. "By the way, that means I'm counting again."

More grumbling.

Kaara sighed.

Silence fell.

"How do you know we can trust her?" Kristoff asked suddenly.

"Red? Like I said before: instinct," said Kaara.

"That isn't enough. I mean—what she did back there—"

"Exactly. Maybe she'll be able to help us get back the twins and Mary and Nya. She seemed to sort of… _control_ the wolves," said Kaara. "Now be quiet, I'm counting.

"One hundred one, one hundred two, one hundred three, one hundred four, one hundred five…."

"All right, then, I'll be quiet," Kristoff muttered sarcastically to himself, as he let his sister take the lead. "I'll be quiet while this crazy wolf-whisperer walks behind us, planning who-knows-what in that red-covered head of hers…."

Just minutes later, they saw light filtering through the trees.

"And now we go that-a-way," said Kaara. "Come on, Red."

"Thank you for taking me here," said the girl.

"No problem," said Kaara.

There was silence until they came right up to the camp the others had made, a fire dancing in the fire pit.

"Kaara! Kristoff! We were worried you wouldn—oh! Hello." Rapunzel had stood up from her seat on the ground.

"Hello," said Red.

"Who are you?" asked Eugene.

"My name is Red," said Red. "I can help you."

"H-how?" asked Rapunzel.

"Your children are alive, and I know where they are," Red replied simply.

Everyone gasped.

"THEY ARE?!" Eugene and Rapunzel shouted at the same time.

Red nodded.

Rapunzel stood up. "Then we haven't a moment to lose."

Standing up beside her, Eugene touched his wife's shoulder gently. "We can't leave right now… we need to get some rest…."

"How are they? What are they doing? How are they alive? _Where_ are they?!" exclaimed Rapunzel, showering the poor Red with questions.

"I will lead you to them tomorrow. They are with wolves. I will be able to help you rescue them," said the girl, pulling off her hood. The firelight glinted in her eyes.

"How do we know we can trust her?" Sideburns, a.k.a. James, asked.

"She saved Kristoff and me," said Kaara.

Everyone turned to her.

"We were attacked by wolves," Kaara explained. "One was just about to bite Kristoff—like, really bite him, you know, it was on him and everything—when there was this howling sound. You made that, didn't you, Red?"

The girl nodded.

"Anyway, then the wolves left, and Red came out of the trees and explained to us who she was," Kaara finished. "Kristoff fainted, too. She got some water on him and woke him up," she added.

"_That's_ why you're so wet," said Brennon.

"What about… what about Nathan?" piped up Elsa in a small voice.

Kaara looked at her sadly. "We didn't find him. I—I actually completely forgot about him when the wolves came, and I haven't thought about him until now. I'm sorry, Elsa."

Elsa stared into the fire. "It's not your fault."

Rapunzel came up to her. "Look, Elsa, if there's anything we can do—"

"No. There's nothing you can do," said Elsa.

Rapunzel fell silent.

"We'd best get to sleep," said Red. "We have a day's journey before we reach the wolves' hideout."

Kaara nodded. "Come on, then. You can share my blanket."

Red looked up at her, and there was gratefulness in her eyes, but there was also something else… sorrow. "Thank you."

"It's no problem," Kaara said, as everyone else settled down around the fire, she included, the girl coming up to her. "I'm Kaara, by the way. Kaara Bjorman."

Red gave a small smile as she cuddled up next to Kaara. "That's a pretty name."

Kaara smiled, too. "Thanks. So's yours. Unique."

"Thank you," said Red. She closed her eyes.

Kaara followed suit, and soon, she was asleep.

* * *

Wind was whipping through the air like the thoughts of the woman sitting upon a large rock. She knew she had to go soon… very soon….

She had to leave today.

But not before she dealt with the girl in the red cloak.


	20. Chapter 20: The Clearing

**A/N: I DIDN'T GET REAPED FOR THE HUNGER GAMES!**

**(AKA I'm not dead.)**

**Okay, I am SEVERELY and SINCERELY sorry for the EXTREMELY long wait. Please, please, PLEASE forgive me. Life got in the way big time. I also found out about a new source of entertainment. It's awesome, but addicting. . . . (Wattpad.) Anyway, enough chitter chatter. Read. Review. Please. I'll be posting the next chapter tomorrow (probably - as long as I get enough reviews. Hehehe). Five more chapters after this one!**

**Just read.**

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY

THE CLEARING

"What? No—I mean—I can't! Please—no!"

Growling.

"Please! Stop! I—"

The sound of pain.

"AH! All—all right. I'll stop. I'll . . . I'll do it."

Silence.

Sleep.

* * *

Rapunzel's sleep was undisturbed after that strange dream. The voice seemed familiar, but not too familiar.

She thought she knew it, but. . . .

She'd never heard it as frightened as this.

"Eugene," she murmured. She'd woken up to silence. Everyone around her was still asleep.

"Eugene." Rapunzel rubbed his shoulder.

"What?" he grumbled, turning over to see his wife looking at him. "What?" he repeated when all she did was stare at him.

"I . . . sorry. I just needed someone to . . . talk to." It came out in a whisper.

Eugene's annoyed expression faded. "That's okay," he said gently. He sat up and began rubbing circles into his wife's back.

"That feels good," she mumbled.

They stayed like this for a little while. Rapunzel didn't quite know how long.

Then people started to wake up.

"Um . . . excuse me."

Rapunzel and Eugene looked around, startled. Red was looking at them uncertainly. Her face was a little red, but seemed clean of emotion. Yet there was something there . . . something wrong. . . .

"Yes?" Rapunzel said kindly. "What is it?" she added, for the girl had hesitated.

"I . . . we need to get going. Quickly."

"Oh. Well . . . all right, then." Rapunzel stood up despite Eugene's physical protests. "We'd better wake the others then, shouldn't we?"

Red gave a stiff nod.

"Hey . . . Kaara," Rapunzel said softly. She rubbed her hand against the blonde's side.

Kaara shot up, looking around wildly for something. Apparently the something did not exist, as she calmed down after a moment.

"Yes?" she said a little roughly.

"Red says we need to go," Rapunzel replied.

Kaara looked over at the girl. Then she stood up suddenly. "Let's go then," she said.

Red nodded again.

"But you don't have to help wake any of the others up," Kaara said kindly.

Red just nodded once more.

Soon, they'd woken everybody up, the twins grumbling, Elsa silently. Her expression somewhat resembled Red's.

"Okay," said Rapunzel. "Red says we need to get going. Everybody ready?"

They all nodded, and then they were off, into the forest. . . .

And into something they were not prepared for in the least.

* * *

"Hey . . . did anybody hear that?" Eugene asked suddenly as they rode along the forest path.

The all stopped and listened.

"Hear what?" asked Kaara.

"That . . . sort of . . . breaking sound. Like something's running on sticks," said Eugene.

Kristoff shuddered slightly. "Let's hope it's not those wolves again."

"Yeah, let's," said Kaara dryly.

They started walking again.

None of them noticed the pair of dark, dark eyes that peered at them from in between the bushes.

* * *

"Hate to be a party-pooper, but when are we gonna be getting there?" James inquired gruffly a little while later. His words broke yet another silence that had followed them from the spot they had last hesitated on in their journey.

Red gave a stiff nod from her seat behind Kaara.

"That all? Ain't gonna say anything?" said James.

Kaara glared at him. "Stop it," she growled.

The Stabbington held up his hands in mock surrender. "Sorry, _princess_," he sarcastically.

"I'm not a princess," said Kaara.

"Aren't you?" asked Kristoff.

"No, Kristoff, I am not," replied Kaara. "I suppose you could think of me as one, but I am not a princess by blood. My brother _married_ a princess, making him a prince consort, so I suppose that I would be considered some sort of 'lady'."

Kristoff grunted. "Oh."

There was silence.

Suddenly, Red tensed in front of Kaara.

"What's up?" she asked, turning around to see the girl's frightened expression. "What's wrong?"

"We're almost here," she said in a whisper that carried throughout the group. A shiver ran down everyone's spine.

"Where's 'here'?" asked James.

"The place where your children are," replied Red.

There was silence as everyone processed this ever-so-frightening information.

"We need to get off the forest path," said Red. "We need to go into the woods."

Another silence greeted her words as the fear of what might lurk beyond the safety of the path enveloped everyone.

Brennon broke it.

"Well, then," he said. "We'd better go where Red tells us to, huh?"

They all nodded.

"Let's go," said Elsa suddenly. Some sort of agreement seemed to swim through the air towards all of them, and, as one, they all rode their horses and reindeer off the forest path and into the woods beyond.

Every sound seemed to be magnified by a hundred after they stepped off of that path that seemed somehow to mean safety. The rustlings of innocent creatures were replaced in their minds by those of not-so-innocent ones. They were on tenterhooks, not knowing what waited beyond them. No one had the heart to ask Red what they were running in to; she probably wouldn't answer, anyway.

And then came the howling.

They all jumped.

Red was now breathing very fast.

"Red? What's wrong? What's out there?!" Kaara asked anxiously, fear and worry building up in her by the second.

"Your children," Red replied. It seemed an age before she added,

"And wolves."

The impact of those few, simple words was unimaginable.

"What?!" Eugene and Kristoff shouted at the exact same time.

"You didn't tell us—" James snarled.

"Red, what happened to my babies?" Rapunzel exclaimed.

It was only Kaara who seemed to care in the slightest about what happened with the girl.

"Red?" she asked. "Why are there wolves out there?"

Red was now white and shaking with fear. "I—I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. "I didn't mean to! I didn't want to!"

"What do you mean?" said Elsa. "Red, tell us what you mean!"

Red pointed a shaking finger into the midst of the trees, where a clearing could be seen in the distance. Eyes as black as midnight were peering out from between the trees.

"Your children . . . are in there," she whispered.

"You mean we have to get past a bunch of maniac-wolves to get to my kids?!" exclaimed Eugene.

Red nodded. Tears were streaming down her face.

"And I thought this journey couldn't get any worse . . ." Eugene muttered under his breath.

Rapunzel turned to her husband. A look of viselike fury was on her face.

"What?" Eugene asked.

"Do you mean to say," she said, "that it has been pointless?"

"Well . . ." Eugene said weakly.

"_Eugene_? Do you no longer see any reason for this journey?"

"Blondie . . . Rapunzel, our kids might be dead!"

The words rang out in the clearing.

Silence.

Then:

"Your children are not dead," said Red. "They're still alive."

"They are?" asked Rapunzel sharply. Red nodded, and she turned back to her husband.

"THEY ARE ALIVE!" she shouted. "OUR BABIES ARE ALIVE AND WE ARE GETTING THEM OUT OF HERE! WE ARE GOING BACK HOME AND HAVING A NORMAL FAMILY! A NORMAL _LIFE_!"

Eugene seemed to break down at her words.

"Rapunzel, I . . . I know. We've gotta go save them."

"Then let's do it," said Rapunzel, and without further ado, she jumped off of Maximus, lifted her frying pan up in the air, and began walking right in the direction of the clearing.

Everyone else immediately followed after her.

They started walking through the trees towards the clearing, frying pans and swords aloft. Oddly, the wolves didn't attack throughout their whole seventy-seven steps.

And then they saw what lay in the clearing.

"LILY! BEN!"

"MARY! NYA!"

Rapunzel, Eugene, Elsa, and Kaara started running as though their lives depended on it, right into the clearing, where the babies lay asleep in little beds made of moss, and the two older girls sat huddled together on the ground.

And then the wolves pounced.

With a howl that would scare even the bravest warrior in the world out of his mind, the creatures leapt out of the shadows. They ran at the group, ran with all their might, and began attacking.

Frying pans whipped through the air.

Wolves fell on the ground.

Swords slashed through fur.

Wolves fell to the ground for good.

All was chaos.

"Lily! Benjy! Babies, Mama's here!" exclaimed Rapunzel. She wrapped them both in her arms.

Eugene whacked at an advancing wolf with his frying pan. It collapsed with a _thunk_ on the forest floor.

"Rapunzel, we need to get moving," he said. "Grab one of them and run. Kaara—Elsa—"

"We've got it," said Kaara. She lifted up Lily in her arms and expertly swung her frying pan at a passing wolf, knocking it to the ground.

Mary and Nya's faces were pure white.

"Wait!" Mary called out in a strangled voice. "Don't hurt them!"

"Why not?" asked Eugene, pushing back a wolf and knocking it to the ground before landing a powerful blow to its head.

"Because they're just wolves! They don't know what they're doing!"

"Mary, I think they know what they're doing," said Kaara.

"No! They don't—they're just creatures, people like you and me! Animals that aren't . . . animals."

"Mary, come on, we've gotta go!" shouted Eugene. "Ah!" He gave a shout of surprise and pulled back from an advancing wolf, which had just nipped his leg.

Rapunzel whacked it unconscious with her frying pan. "No time to get hurt!" she said. She grabbed Benjamin up in the crook of her elbow and reached up and planted a kiss on Eugene's lip.

"No time for kissing, either." But Eugene was smiling like he was pleased with himself as he whacked at another wolf.

"We've gotta go!" exclaimed Kaara, kicking a wolf out of her way, hard. "Come on, girls!" She grabbed Mary and Nya's hands and attempted to pull them away. Nya went with her, but Mary struggled, staying behind.

"Please, just—just STOP!" she yelled.

"Why?" Kaara asked hysterically. "We've got to _go_!"

"I know, but—" Mary seemed to struggle with herself for a moment. Then she said, "All right. Fine."

And then they shot into the midst of the wolves, which oddly seemed to clear a brief path for them. But then they started pouncing again.

Suddenly, a wolf lunged at Mary. Eugene barely blocked it with his frying pan.

Mary jumped backwards. "Th-thanks," she stuttered. Her face was paper white.

"No problem," said Eugene. He gave her a short squeeze, as they were right next to each other and figured he felt like it.

"Wait, where's Elsa?" asked Rapunzel.

Kaara groaned.

"ELSA!" she shouted out to the woman, who was standing where they'd left her. Snow was swirling around her.

Kaara ran after her. "Elsa, what are you doing?!" she exclaimed.

"I have to find Anna." Elsa's voice was strangled. "I don't know where she is."

"Elsa. . . ." Kaara paused, searching for the right words. "Elsa," she finally said, "if we don't get out of here quickly, then we're all gonna get overpowered by the wolves, and then we'll have been here for nothing!"

"But I need to find Anna!" Elsa said insistently. "I need to find my sister. . . ."

"Elsa . . . if you haven't found her yet . . . I don't think she's anywhere."

And then the ice shot out of Elsa like it did so long ago, with such a different person. . . .

With Anna.

And then wolves all around them fell to the ground, and so did Kaara. She didn't see what was happening until it happened.

And then Kaara had been struck with ice.

Not quite in the heart, but close enough.

She gasped and stumbled, nearly falling to the ground.

"Elsa . . ." she said breathlessly.

The Snow Queen's expression was pure horror.

"No . . . I . . . I did it again," she muttered. "I . . . no . . . this can't be happening! This—this isn't real!"

"Elsa, come on, we're wasting time!" Kaara exclaimed. "We've gotta go _now_!"

"I—NO!"

And then everything went boom.

Literally.

Because all Elsa wanted to be was where her sister was.

But she didn't know where Anna was.

That was what hurt.

All her life, she'd known Anna's exact location . . . whether it be by purely knowing Anna's daily schedule and figuring she would be, say, in the dining room or kitchen or library chowing on some chocolate at dessert time at meals. . . .

Or being with her.

Elsa needed to be with her sister.

And that was where she sent everyone in the clearing.

To Anna.

To where her sister was.

Apparently, she was more magical than she thought.

And, you know . . . love helped, too.

With the ice.

The ice had a lot of magic.

* * *

Apparently, where Elsa's sister was was not much different than where Elsa had been herself.

For a second, she thought she'd never left, that that impossible poof of ice and snow and pure magic had just _happened_ and then been gone.

But she was wrong.

The chaos here was a little different.

Here, people were running about. Along with the wolves that had been in the clearing with them.

Elsa looked around, startled. The wolves seemed confused, too. They shook their heads, not seeming to know what was going on.

"Elsa?"

Elsa turned around at the surprisingly weak voice. Kaara was standing there, clutching at the place right above where her heart lay thumping in her chest.

Shrieks suddenly sounded around the place. The wolves had been shaken out of their daze, and were now running around the place where Elsa had seemingly somehow taken them.

They were in the town square, and in front of Elsa stood the king and queen of Corona.

"Elsa!" they shrieked at the exact same time. Their eyes darted around. They saw their daughter and grandchildren and daughter's husband and ran to them and embraced them.

Then, suddenly, the wolves had disappeared—run off somewhere—and it was just the villagers rushing about.

"What happened? How did you get here? Are you all right?" Queen Primrose was saying very quickly to her daughter.

"I—I don't know," was all Rapunzel could say.

Then everyone's eyes landed on Elsa.

"There was an earthquake," said King Benjamin suddenly.

"And then you appeared," his wife added, exchanging a look with him.

"Wh-what?" asked Rapunzel. "Earthquake?"

"Yes. Well, there was something . . . colder about it," said Primrose. "Different. Not your standard earthquake."

"How. . . ." Elsa trailed off, staring at her hands. Something had just happened that she could not explain in the least. She'd . . . let out that big gust of ice, which froze Kaara's chest right next to her heart, which . . . then . . . then she'd wanted to reach her sister . . . and then . . . she'd landed here.

But _how_?

That was the question, wasn't it?

How.

Elsa shook her head. It was all too much.

Suddenly, a thought popped into her mind, and somehow, it brought on more confusion and pain than even thinking of Anna at the moment could.

Nathan.

Somehow, he'd been swept from her mind. In all the madness, she'd forgotten him.

How could she forget him?

And then a voice rang across the square. An unfamiliar voice, but a voice that brought the most hideous of gasps from Red.

"Hello, citizens of Corona. I believe it is time for me to speak to your ruler."

Elsa turned around to see someone standing there. It was a woman.

A woman she had never seen before.

A woman who was wearing a long, dark, furry coat.

A woman whose green eyes stood out even brighter than Rapunzel's.

A woman who stood before a great, big pack of wolves, with Hunter at her side.

* * *

**A/N: REVIEW! FOLLOW! FAVORITE! SEE YA 5/2/16!**


	21. Chapter 21: Where Her Sister Was

**A/N: YAY! ANOTHER CHAPTER! HERE YOU ARE! THANK YOU FOR THE LOVELY REVIEW! :D**

**READ!**

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

WHERE HER SISTER WAS

The woman's black eyebrows rose suddenly. "I thought you'd be finished by the time I got started here?" she said conversationally.

Elsa's own white brow scrunched together. "What?" she said.

"Well," said the woman a bit pointedly, "you're supposed to be dead right now. Guess you held up better than I thought."

"Who are you?" Eugene shouted.

The woman's expression turned soft. She looked a little sad.

"Someone you met long ago, Eugene," she said quietly.

"How do you know my name?!" he exclaimed, more loudly than before.

"Word gets around," the woman replied dryly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Eugene angrily.

The woman ignored him.

"Queen Primrose . . . King Benjamin," she said.

The king and queen had expressions of defiance on their faces.

"Yes?" said Primrose.

"I am here to take your kingdom. If you do not give it up willingly, your people will pay."

There was a silence.

"No," Primrose said after a moment.

"You are sure? You would sacrifice your kingdom in the hopes of stopping me?" asked the woman. A soft wind blew about the place, the only sound in the entire area. Her long black hair whipped past her face.

She pulled it behind her ear.

"So be it."

And then she threw back her head and howled. It was a great and terrible sound.

But the sound that came after it was worse.

The wolves all howled in reply, and growling and barking filled everyone's ears.

And then the creatures pounced.

It was like a wave of fur had overtaken the place. The wolves rushed past the woman and began biting, scratching, and altogether wounding everyone in the area like a tornado of teeth and claws. The people had dashed apart. Screams split the air. Howls of agony.

"You have until moonrise to give me what I want," said the woman, turning to the king and queen, who had petrified looks on their faces. "And then I will be less unreasonable than you would like." She turned to face Hunter.

"Kill whomever you like," she said, and then vanished into the midst of the wolves.

Elsa felt her insides fill with dread as she eyed the black weapon in the man's hand. It was the same knife that had nearly killed her just days ago.

"Looks like he's got his obsidian knife again," Kaara muttered beside her.

Elsa gave a start and turned around to see her. Her hair was slowly turning the same white as the queen's.

"Yes," Elsa whispered. "He has."

Suddenly, there was a loud _bang_ from behind her.

"Guys, I think we have a problem here," said Eugene.

"Obviously," said Kaara. She whipped out her frying pan and whacked it with surprising strength at a wolf that was advancing. It fell back with a loud thump, but another quickly took its place.

"What am I going to do with Lily and Ben?!" Rapunzel shrieked.

"Give them here," said Mary. "I can take them to the castle."

"I will accompany you," added King Benjamin.

"Are you sure, Uncle Benjamin?" asked Mary.

"Sure as ever. Quickly, now."

King Benjamin grabbed the girl's arm, after she had taken little baby Ben from his mother's arm and he had taken Lily, and then grabbed Nya's and his wife's arms as well before they darted off into the crowd.

"Elsa, what are you doing?" Kristoff exclaimed suddenly. "Ice 'em!"

Elsa gave a start. She gave a curt nod at the ice harvester before blasting sharp shards of ice at some of the wolves. She felt sickened as they pierced the fur, killing most of them, if not all.

"It's like they won't stop coming!" shouted Eugene. "I swear there were only fifty here before. . . ."

"Fifty?!" Rapunzel shrieked hysterically.

"Yeah, and like ten are knocked out or dead, and there's at least sixty now!" replied Eugene.

"Weird . . ." Kaara muttered.

"Hi there, fuzzy-fluffy-pants!"

Everyone turned around to see Olaf beaming at a growling wolf that was running right at him.

"OLAF!" Elsa shrieked. She shot ice at the wolf, and it was hit in the head. It fell to the ground, knocked out cold—literally.

"Let's . . . go . . ." Kristoff suggested uncertainly. His face was white and he was staring at the wolves with pure terror.

"What?!" yelled Kaara. "Go where?!"

"Uh—" Kristoff barely answered her before a wolf leapt right at him. He froze, not moving a muscle. He looked more scared than he'd ever been in his life—except for when he'd seen Anna literally freeze right in front of him.

The wolf instantly planted its jaw around Kristoff's arm.

Shrieks filled Elsa's ears. She didn't know if she was a part of them. All she knew was that her sister's husband was now running so fast, it was like he was an arrow being released from the wolf's mouth. He was running, running, darting away from the place, racing towards the midst of the buildings.

"KRISTOFF!" Kaara shouted. She bolted out after her brother.

And then Elsa, Kaara, Rapunzel, and Eugene were running after them, not sure what else to do.

They found Kristoff in an alleyway, panting and on his knees.

"Kristoff, what's—" Kaara began.

Suddenly, Kristoff let out a yell. And then a strange thing seemed to be happening.

Elsa froze in her tracks. Ice started to rain from the sky—not like snowflakes did, gently and slowly, but hard, fast, and sharply.

Everyone shrieked and ran for cover.

The same thing that had happened to Anna what felt like a thousand years ago was happening to Kristoff, except much, much faster this time.

And Elsa had no idea how to stop it.

"Elsa!" she heard Rapunzel shriek.

The queen spun around, and the sight before her was not pleasant in the least.

Wolves had found them. They were crawling into the little alleyway between two tall buildings and in front of another. Trapped. No way to get out.

Was Elsa going to die? Were they all going to die?

Why did it have to be this way?

Frying pans whacking, wolves falling. Swords flashing, wolves cut in two.

"No—no—no—this—no—NO!" Elsa collapsed onto the ground, hands over her ears, not able to bear the sounds around her. Ice whirled over her and by her sides and front and back, and all was mayhem.

No, this couldn't be happening. Too much noise—too many things—too, too much—

"Elsa, come on!" said Kaara. She jumped into the midst of the whirling snow and grabbed at Elsa's shoulders. "Come _on_!"

"No, no—too much—this is all too much!"

She couldn't hide the noise. She couldn't hide anything that was around her. A wolf appeared in the ice and tried to nip at her. It was sent back with an icy blast she sent subconsciously. Though no others came, Elsa felt no better.

Kaara, Rapunzel, Eugene, Kristoff (now a wolf), and she were trapped.

But no. She couldn't do this. This was no time for weakness.

Elsa stood up. The icy flurry around her vanished.

Kaara grinned at her. "That's the Snow Queen I know."

Elsa shot at a wolf, which darted out of the way and scampered out of the alleyway. But more were taking its place.

And then the words that might just have saved them all rang across the alleyway.

"Hi! I'm Summer, and I like sweet kisses!"

Summer had a beam on her face. Her arms were spread out wide. She was running right at the wolves.

"Summer!" Elsa cried out. The snowlady was one of the only things she had left of Anna . . . she couldn't leave her . . . not _now_. . . .

And then, despite everyone's shouts of protests (except for Olaf's, whose was of encouragement, rather), Summer had flown herself at the wolves and planted a huge, wet, cold kiss on the front one's nose.

And then something happened.

It started to change. Paws turned to hands and feet. Fur turned to skin and hair. Eyes the color of midnight turned to a soft brown.

And before them, crouched on the ground, was Peter, the boy who had cried wolf a million years ago.

He stood up suddenly and turned to look around him. "Where am I?!" he shrieked. He suddenly noticed the wolves and started backing away from them.

"You're—" Elsa started.

The boy suddenly noticed something, and shouted, "I'm naked!"

"Here." Trying her best not to look, Elsa conjured an ice outfit on him.

"Hey—it's—ice?" said Peter, confused. He looked down at himself. "It's not even cold. . . . How?!"

"Long story," Elsa said shortly. "But how did—"

"Hi! I'm Olaf, and I like warm hugs _and_ sweet kisses!"

And then the snowman planted a kiss on another wolf's face.

Skin, not fur. Orange, not gray. Green-blue, not black.

And then Anna, hunched on the ground in front of them, was there as well.

Elsa was frozen, speechless, for just one moment. And then she shouted out in the most amazed and happiest and shocked and relieved voice,

"ANNA!"

"Elsa? Elsa!" Anna said it with an uncertain giggle. She started to stand up, but then realized that the only thing protecting the larger part of her skin from everyone else's gaze was Summer, who had turned around to yell out in happiness at the others.

"Oh, my gosh!" Elsa exclaimed. "Uh—here." She shot ice at her sister—gently—and a dress made of the stuff was molded onto Anna's skin.

Anna breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Elsa."

"You're welcome."

Suddenly, Elsa ran at her sister and embraced her as tightly as she could. She didn't care that wolves surrounded them all—all she cared about was that her sister was back. Somehow, she'd gotten her baby sister back.

"Uh, guys—hate to break up the cozy catchup, but I think we have a problem here."

The sisters turned around at Eugene's voice and noticed exactly what the problem was.

"Oh," said Anna.

"Yes," said Elsa.

"A wolf?" asked Anna.

"A wolf," replied Elsa.

"It was Kristoff!" Kaara shouted. Her face was white. "He just started—getting all furry, and—"

"Kiss the wolves!" Elsa exclaimed. "I think that's what does it!"

"What do you mean?" asked Eugene.

"Just kiss him!" Elsa shouted.

"No way!" Eugene protested, disgusted.

"I'll do it!" And, without questioning anyone, Anna barged right through the group, and before the growling creature at the back of the alleyway could do more than bark, she'd planted a big fat kiss on its head.

And the same thing that had happened to Anna happened to it.

And Kristoff was there.

"KRISTOFF!" Anna shouted. She pulled her husband to her and gave him a big fat kiss on his lips.

When she finally pulled away, Kristoff was standing there, dazed.

"A-Anna?" he said. "Is it really you?"

"Yes, it's really me!" she said back. Tears of happiness were in her eyes. "Oh—Kristoff, there's something I need to—"

"GUYS!" Eugene yelled over Anna. "WE—HAVE—WOLVES—THAT—ARE—ABOUT—TO—EAT—OUR—FACES!"

"Right," Elsa said decisively. "Everyone, I think these were people. And we have to kiss them."

"WHAT?!" Eugene and Kristoff shouted at the exact same time. Kristoff had begun to pull on the clothes left behind as he'd . . . transformed.

"Yes, kiss them," Elsa confirmed.

"What if that's just plain gross?" asked Eugene.

"We have to," said Kaara. She was looking weaker by the moment. Her hair was a bit whiter than before.

"I'll kiss 'em!" shouted Olaf. He ran right at the wolves and started planting his face on their faces immediately.

"Wait!" said Elsa. But Olaf was already getting chunks of snow torn out of him—and he wasn't even noticing.

"Olaf, come back!" added Summer. Somehow, she was on the—er—_smart_ side of things right now.

"What's going on here?" asked Peter.

"You must think we're crazy," said Rapunzel.

"That's because we kind of _are_," Eugene pointed out.

"Guys, how are we gonna get rid of all these?!" Kaara shouted hysterically.

"Kiss the wolves!" exclaimed Elsa.

Rapunzel grabbed her husband's arm. "Come on, Eugene!" She pulled him into the midst of the creatures and immediately whacked one with her frying pan. It fell to the ground. She bent down and planted a kiss on its head. Thirty seconds later, a little girl was crouched in its place.

She looked up at Rapunzel with a scared expression on her face. "Who are you?" she said in a small voice.

"Someone who can help," Rapunzel replied simply. She took the little girl in her arms. "We've got another nakie over here, Elsa!" she said as she ran over to the back of the alleyway, where everyone else was congregated.

"Here." Elsa shot ice at the girl, who was soon clothed in the shiny ice material Elsa had used on Peter and Anna previously.

"Kissy kissy kissy kissy kissy!" Olaf was dancing around the wolves. People were appearing in the wolves' places—undressed and bewildered.

Elsa shot ice at them and everyone was dressed. That was when Olaf ran back over to them.

"Not enough snow," he panted. Indeed, his body now resembled white Swiss cheese.

"Here." Elsa swirled her hands in the air, and Olaf's body was perfectly snowy once again.

"Guys, start kissing!" shouted Kaara. She pushed at her brother, who stumbled, caught himself, and then ran reluctantly into the crowd of wolves. Soon, everyone followed and started whacking with their frying pans or the hilts of their swords. Elsa was dressing them in between kisses.

Soon, all the wolves in the alleyway were people again.

Yay.

They all stood up, panting, as Elsa clothed the final person.

"Never—again," Eugene muttered in between breathes.

"Never," Kristoff agreed.

"Mom!" they heard Peter shout.

"Peter!" The last woman that had been—er—"un-wolfified" ran at the boy. They were soon hugging each other as tightly as humanly possible.

"Where's Dad?" Peter said once they'd parted.

"I don't know." The woman's brown eyes were filled with tears. "I was . . . something happened to me. I don't know if it happened to him."

"What happened, anyway?" asked Anna, bending over and panting. Suddenly, a look of shock spread across her face. She spit out throw-up onto the alleyway floor.

"You okay?" asked Kristoff, rubbing her back.

"Yeah, just—rough—" she spit out more of the green stuff "—day," she finished.

They all turned away until she was done.

"Okay—" she said, standing up and swaying slightly. "I'm good."

"What happened?" asked one of the un-wolfified men.

"I . . . I'm not sure," Elsa began slowly, "but I think you were all turned to wolves—"

"You think?" scoffed Eugene. "Elsa, look at them!"

"You didn't let me finish." Elsa gave the ex-thief a sort of heated look before continuing. "Anyway, I think that somehow, the bite of a wolf turns you into one yourself. And then a kiss from a human—or snowperson—turns you back."

"Whoa," said Peter.

"Then all we have to do is kiss all the wolves, and then we're good!" said Anna optimistically.

"Might wanna start right about now," Kaara pointed out.

As to her word, they really did. Wolves had started slithering into the alleyway. They ran out past them. And were crowded by wolves.

"KISSY KISSY KISSY KISSY KISSY!" Olaf shrieked with a lot more enthusiasm than before—and Summer shrieked it, too—and he and his fellow snowperson had begun charging at the wolves and kissing them like crazy. People started becoming people like crazy.

"Well—like Olaf said. Kissy kissy kissy kissy kissy!" Eugene started at a wolf and whacked at it, but missed, and Summer ended up having to un-wolfify the wolf instead.

Rapunzel stared at him. "I have never loved you more," she said.

"Not exactly the time," Kristoff muttered.

"Then let's go!" Anna shrieked. She yanked her husband's frying pan out of her hand and started whacking at some wolves, but she was getting kind of tired, and started missing. All of them were getting kind of tired. And more wolves were coming. A lot more than they'd seen at once—which was saying something.

"Well, shoot," she muttered.

More wolves had started appearing around them. They'd slowed down on the attack, but they were about to speed up again, and the humans and snowpeople had a problem.

"We need more lips," Kaara commented.

"Ya think?" said Eugene.

Rapunzel seemed to have been going off on her own train of thought. "So kissing cures the wolves?" she wondered aloud. "Like true love's kiss?"

"I guess so." Eugene shrugged. "Except . . . I don't think we all have twenty true loves."

"Touché," Rapunzel agreed, whacking at another wolf and turning it back into a human. "So I guess a plop of saliva is the antidote, aye?"

"Guess so," Eugene said.

"YOUCH!" Anna kicked at a wolf and kissed it, but not before it had taken a bite at her leg.

"Anna!" Kristoff yelled. He instantly kissed her on the lips before any damage could be done—it was assumed that not only wolves had to be kissed—hopefully "infected" humans were able to be kissed before they became wolves.

"KRISTOFF, I NEED TO TELL YOU SOMETHING!" Anna exclaimed after he was done.

"WHAT?!" Kristoff shouted over the rising din.

"Okay, this is probably the worst possible moment to tell you," Anna began in a very rushed voice, "but—WOLF!" She grabbed Eugene's frying pan with renewed energy, knocked the wolf out cold, kissed it, and then told them all news that was indeed told at the worst possible time.

"Anyways, this-is-probably-the-worst-possible-moment-to-tell-you-this-but . . . I'm pregnant!"

Silence for a moment. Shouts the next.

Kristoff's was the loudest of them all.

"WHAT?!" he . . . shouted. "YOU'RE—YOU'RE—"

"Pregnant, yeah!" Anna said as she whacked at another wolf, which Elsa kissed on the forehead and quickly put clothes on.

"WHY WOULD YOU TELL ME THIS _NOW_?!" Kristoff yelled.

"I told you it was the worst possible moment!" Anna exclaimed. "But I found out the day of the ball, and then I wanted to tell you, but obviously I didn't have the chance to!"

"BUT _RIGHT NOW_?!"

"Yeah, well, in case me or you died or something—"

"We're not gonna die," said Kristoff.

"I know, but still."

Suddenly, Kristoff swooped over to his wife and gave her a huge, long kiss.

"OI!" Eugene shouted over the din. "THERE'S A WAR GOING ON HERE!"

The two pulled apart.

"I know, man," said Kristoff, "but—"

"LET'S GO!" shouted Elsa.

"Too late," said a voice.

They all turned.

And realized that the moon was just about to rise above the horizon.

* * *

**A/N: Remember, more reviews equals a possible double post today. *laughs evilly***


	22. Chapter 22: The Woman

**A/N: HERE YA GO! Thank you again for the wonderful review. :)**

**READ! (Not a very long chapter - all these last ones are very short - but READ.) :)**

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

THE WOMAN

The woman with the gray cloak stepped out in front of them and sighed in a way that seemed simply disappointed.

"I take it you won't be giving up the kingdom, then?" she asked.

Rapunzel stood her ground. "Never."

The woman sighed again. "Oh, well. I'll be making your lives very unpleasant in that case." She turned to the two wolves that were standing at her heal.

"Get her," she said.

Before anyone could do or say anything, the wolves had run at Rapunzel and begun ripping her apart. Not by teeth, but by claw.

Rapunzel's screams echoed throughout the place.

"Rapunzel!" Eugene jumped at the wolves and whacked at them with his frying pan. They dodged and continued scratching at the princess. "RAPUNZEL!"

"Stop now." The woman whistled, and the wolves retreated, snarling and spitting.

Rapunzel lay on the ground, bleeding and scratched in ways that would assuredly leave her scarred. Her left eye was bloody and lifeless. Eugene was beside her, not as badly injured, but close to.

They were both alive.

"Who _are_ you?" Rapunzel asked shakily, spitting out red.

The woman chuckled. "It's funny you should ask, and not Eugene."

Eugene stared at her. "Why are you doing this? What's your reason, woman?"

The woman looked at him almost pityingly. "I suppose I can explain. It's the least I can do before I take over your kingdom."

Everyone looked at her expectantly, and she sighed before starting.

"It all started with a man named Eugene Fitzherbert."

Eugene stared at her. "You mean me? 'Cause I've got nothing to do with you, you—"

"A _different_ Eugene Fitzherbert. The _first _Eugene Fitzherbert." The woman stared out into the distance. "He was the most beautiful man I'd ever met. He fell in love with me, Lowelli Pin, the outcast.

"The enemy of the queen."

The woman—ahem, Lowelli Pin—laughed humorously. "The queen cast me out only because of what would do. I'd wanted to be the leader of the kingdom . . . and was instead turned into the leader of a wolf pack."

Everyone looked at her, confused.

"I became what you might think of as a werewolf," Lowelli clarified. "I later went to the witch who gave me those powers and received the ability to be conscious when I was in wolf form, but . . . it still seemed a curse."

"Wait—witch?" interrupted James. He exchanged glances with Oliver.

"Yes. Do you know her? I hear she likes to play tricks on people. Says she's helping them. No, not really. She twists their wishes. Says she's teaching them lessons. Oh, she does, but the hard way, I can assure you."

Lowelli continued after the next silence.

"So I was an outcast. I'd promised my husband that I would take the kingdom, but . . . I'd been turned into a wolf instead. I was going to have a baby. I hadn't told Eugene yet." Lowelli paused. "I was going to after I took the kingdom for my own.

"I had a beautiful baby boy. He was my most precious treasure. Alas . . . I had to give him to an orphanage." Lowelli sighed and looked out into the distance. "I couldn't raise him being a wolf.

"I'd fallen in love with a man named Eugene Fitzherbert and named my newborn son after him after he died."

Eugene Fitzherbert Jr. was in complete and total shock.

All his life, he'd wondered about his parents—dreamed about them, hoped about them, told stories about what they might be like to the other orphans. But he'd never imagined this.

"Eugene?" Rapunzel tried to stand up, but only fell to the ground. She yelped when a hard rock cut through a red wound on her hand.

That seemed to snap Eugene out of his phase. He dropped to the ground and held Rapunzel in his arms, not looking at anything in particular, just staring out into space, neither smile nor frown on his face, just brown eyes cold and hard.

Silence.

"So, Eugene? No hellos? No happy reunion hug? No tears of joy?" Lowelli piped up.

And then Eugene lost it.

He leapt up from his wife and started bellowing at Lowelli, face red and angry, taut, unlike himself, spitting and snarling like one of her wolves.

"ALL THESE YEARS, I WONDERED ABOUT YOU! ALL THESE YEARS, I'VE BEEN DREAMING ABOUT YOU, DREAMING ABOUT THE MOTHER THAT DROPPED ME OFF AT THAT ORPHANAGE, AND THERE WAS NO SIGN FROM YOU, NOT EVEN A WHISPER, NOTHING TO TELL ME WHO MY MOTHER WAS FOR THIRTY-FOUR YEARS! NOTHING AT ALL! AND THEN YOU COME UP AND START KILLING PEOPLE! HAVING YOUR WOLVES DO YOUR DIRTY WORK, TAKING MY KIDS AWAY FROM ME, ALMOST MURDERING MY WIFE! AND YOU THINK FOR A MOMENT THAT IT'S OKAY TO ASK FOR A 'HELLO' OR 'HAPPY REUNION HUG' OR 'TEARS OF _JOY_'?!"

Eugene panted, face red, staring at Lowelli, who was staring at him.

"Well you're not getting any of that," he said. He raised the sword that was on his belt, not his frying pan, and shouted, "You're getting THIS!" and was about to hit her when Rapunzel interrupted.

"Eugene . . . stop this."

He turned to see her looking at him sadly.

"Why?" he asked her. "She . . . this . . . this WOMAN . . . she . . . she. . . ."

"Don't hurt her, Eugene. She may deserve it, but please don't hurt her."

She looked so weak that Eugene was surprised she hadn't passed out on the spot.

"Why, Rapunzel?" he said disbelievingly. "Why. . .?" Why was she so _good_? Why was she . . . just . . . the way she was?

To balance him out, he supposed. He was too much like Flynn Rider.

Rapunzel gave a tiny smile. "No one should feel this kind of pain. Yeah, I do wish it on her, but . . . it won't solve anything, will it? Hurting people—wars—battles—arguments—they never solve anything, do they? They just hurt both sides."

Eugene stared at her. Then he let the sword fall at his side.

He stared at it. "You're . . . right. I guess." He looked back up at Lowelli before backing away from her and joining his wife's side. "I don't care who you are, woman. I don't care if you gave birth to me out in the woods with some sick wolves with you. You're not my mother. A mother is someone who treats anyone like their kid. And you haven't done a very good job of that. The only person who's done that is Rapunzel's actual mom. Even Gothel treated her better than you've treated me."

Eugene stopped, panting. Lowelli stared at him. Then she spoke.

"Even if I'm also the mother of your sister?"

"Wh-what?" Eugene was dizzy, caught off-guard.

Lowelli smiled. "Yes. I met another man years after I had to give you up. We married and I had another child. However . . . we decided it would be too dangerous for a little girl to be raised by a werewolf. So he left with her. I never heard from him again." She shook her head sadly. "Poor little dear. I saw her, thought. I was in a different kingdom at the time, you see. I move around quite a bit with my pack. Arendelle, I think it was. She looks so much like her father."

Everyone stared at her.

"I don't think you inherited my powers, Eugene," said Lowelli. "But I have noticed someone else who I think did. She's with your group, isn't she? That girl—the one with the long brown hair and hazel eyes. The older one. She looks a lot like her sister, you see. I expect I have a stepdaughter, then."

There was complete and utter silence.

Then Mary ran in.

"The babies are asleep, and the wolves . . . wolves . . . you?" Mary looked at Lowelli, confused. "Who . . . who are you?"

"Mary—" Eugene gulped. "Mary, this is your mom."

Mary stared at him. "What?"

"And mine, too," Eugene said as though he couldn't believe it himself—which he couldn't, really.

"But . . . I have a mother. And a sister. And a father. And a little baby brother." Mary stopped herself and shook her head. "I _used_ to have a mother and father and brother. . . ."

"And a stepson, too?" asked Lowelli curiously, almost delightedly.

Mary stared at her. "Who _are_ you?"

"People seem to be asking me that a lot lately," she said. "I am your mother, Eugene Fitzherbert Jr.'s mother, and your sister and brother's stepmother.

"Oh, and I'm also going to be taking over this kingdom as soon as this conversation is over. Which should be right about now."

Before Mary could say anything, Lowelli had straightened up and looked around.

"Where is your king?" she asked no one in particular.

"Not here, that's for sure," muttered Kaara.

"Well then, I believe I shall go and search for him and his wife. Meanwhile, I shall have someone keep the rest of you in line. Hunter!" she called somewhere behind them.

They whipped around.

"Oh, no," Elsa groaned.

Before them, a wicked grin upon his face, stood Hunter—knife as black as any of the wolves' eyes in his hand.

* * *

**A/N: MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!**

**It only takes a minute to leave even the smallest of reviews.**

**Let me know what you think.**

**Please. :)**

**I'll update sooner. . . .**

**Anyway, TOODLES!**

**~MagicFireTiger**


	23. Chapter 23: What He Would do for Her

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

WHAT HE WOULD DO FOR HER

Olaf was happy.

Obviously, this situation was dire, but he'd been in lots of dire situations with his best friends, right? And obviously all of them had made it out of them alive, so there was no need to fuss over anything right now.

Right now, Anna was going to have a baby, and that made him very, very happy.

And he was telling the wolves this as he was kissing them and handing chunks of himself to them as temporary pieces of clothing, since, for some reason, Elsa had stopped doing that herself. Skipping along, wolves came and attacked every so often, but that was fine with him; he had his personal flurry to create more snow for him, which also helped with the clothing situation.

He realized that he'd been wandering around in a circle after a while, because Olaf came back around to see Elsa and some dude with a weird black sharp thing in his hand. A weird woman had just strolled off. He shrugged and hopped along, plopping another kiss on a wolf and exclaiming to it as it transformed back into a human,

"Anna's gonna have a baby!"

". . . .What? Anna? Wait—WHAT?!"

That was when Olaf realized that the nose he'd just kissed had been that of Nathan White.

Ooooooh.

Wait—NATHAN WHITE?!

NATEY-POO WAS BACK!

"NATEY-POO!" Olaf screamed, and wrapped his snow arms around him. "You're back!"

"What—Olaf—Anna—where—where's Elsa?!" Nathan had started to go ballistic, looking around everywhere. Well, almost everywhere.

"Over there, silly! Facing that weird looking dude with the knife!"

"Weird looking dude with a knife—wait, WHAT?!" Nathan stood up and ran over to Elsa and barreled into her.

Olaf watched interestedly, wondering what would happen next.

Oh, if only he knew.

* * *

"ELSA! ELSA! ELSA!"

Elsa was confused. Who had just toppled her to the ground in the very ferocious manner in which they had done so? And then she realized something.

Nathan White was on top of her.

And he wasn't wearing anything.

But Elsa fixed that—obviously.

"N-Nathan?"

Nathan nodded at her. Then he stood up and turned around, facing Hunter.

"You," he snarled.

Hunter raised his eyebrows. ". . . .You."

"You're going to pay for what you did to Elsa."

"And you're going to make me do that . . . how, exactly?" Hunter inquired.

Nathan straightened his back. "In any way possible."

Hunter considered him for a moment, eyes squinted.

"All right."

He shrugged.

Then he tossed his knife at Nathan.

It sailed right into his stomach.

No.

_No._

_NO._

Nathan fell onto the ground. He cried out.

Blood started to pour from where the knife had pierced him, even though it was still there.

And then everything seemed to be frozen.

Ice was everywhere. Blood was everywhere.

And Elsa fell onto the ground.

Hunter laughed and walked over to Nathan, who was curled up in a ball. A moaning ball. But he wasn't moaning as much as Elsa thought he would.

"Typical," Hunter said. He ripped the knife out with a sickening sound of obsidian and flesh and Nathan's groan and went over to Elsa. He turned and pushed her up and pulled her face up close to his with his free hand.

"Your boyfriend's as good as dead, lady," he said. Elsa struggled against his grip, but he was too strong.

"And now it's time for you to die, too."

"_NO_!"

Nathan leaped in front of Elsa just as Hunter plunged the knife forward.

But it didn't reach its victim.

Instead, it sank into Nathan's chest.

"NATHAN!"

With one fluid motion that seemed to take a million years, Nathan yanked the knife from his chest and flung it at Hunter, whom he had pushed backwards.

It hit his target with a sickening sound.

Hunter fell onto the ground, black knife in the place where his heart was, dead.

There was the loudest silence Elsa had ever experience in her life.

And then Nathan touched her arm. His fingers were ice cold.

Though she wasn't bothered by the cold normally . . . this time was different.

No one but a dead person could feel that cold.

"Elsa?"

It came out as a faint rasp.

Elsa turned to him and gasped at the side of him—bloody, tattered. White.

Much too white.

"You're—you're gonna be okay. You're gonna be okay. You have to be okay!" Elsa started sobbing into his chest. "Rapunzel can heal you!"

"I can't! Elsa, I can't!" Rapunzel cried out in a strangled voice. "If I'm injured like this, I can't use my powers." She coughed again.

Elsa kept staring at Nathan's sheet white face, stroking it and trying to keep him warm.

"No—no—no—please, Nathan—stay with me!" she said in a quavering voice.

Nathan gave the tiniest of smiles.

"Elsa, I can't. You don't want me to, anyways. You never really did."

Elsa let out a sob. "No, Nathan! I always wanted you! I always did!"

Nathan stared at her for a split second. "After all this time?"

"Always," said Elsa.

Nathan smiled. "Good. Say hello to Anna's baby for me, okay?"

And then his heart stopped.

Elsa was right there when it happened.

His heart stopped.

He was gone.

Nathan White was dead.


	24. Chapter 24: Agony

**A/N: Haven't posted for a couple of days. Sorry 'bout that. Forgot, and then I wasn't able to. Anyway, since I haven't posted the last two days, if I get at LEAST two to three reviews on this chapter, I will post the last chapter today. READ ON!**

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

AGONY

And then Elsa let out a scream like a wild beast.

"NO!"

It was inhuman, pure agony, pure torture, pure lack of everything, pure everything, pure terror and pain and everything horrible that has ever come to pass.

"NO!"

She knew nothing, and yet she knew everything. She was nothing, and yet she was everything. She couldn't feel, yet what she was feeling was so much worse than she could bear.

Elsa didn't know what she was doing; she was simply gliding, running, flying away as fast as she could. Her tears became ice on her face, and they joined the whirlwind now flying past her.

She was flying towards the only thing that could make it all end:

The stopping of Lowelli Pin.

The Snow Queen had no clue how long it took her to reach the woman; all she knew was that she hated—no, _loathed_—her with a fierce passion. People had died because of her; Elsa now knew that those who'd been found dead after the chaos of the ball just days ago had been humans turned into mindless wolves by _the_ Wolf. And Nathan. . . .

Nathan. . . .

She flew until she found her. Lowelli was at the head of the castle. The king and the queen were facing her.

Elsa had to stop this before more innocent lives were lost.

"LOWELLI!" she shrieked in that same inhuman voice.

The three people in from of her turned, startled.

Then Lowelli sighed before Elsa could do anything. "The moon is up," Lowelli said almost in a whisper.

And then the most horrible change of all happened.

Her black hair seemed to spread across her body. Her form changed, changed into that of a huge wolf, though somehow it looked still human—the worst part of a human. The eyes were as black as midnight, just like the shining fur.

She'd changed.

Then the wolf leapt at Elsa, snarling and biting at her. Elsa created an ice shield that was cracking surprisingly fast under the weight of the creature. She forced winds in front of her that threw Lowelli off. The wolf tumbled backward, but stood up again, licking its lips in anticipation. It seemed to be smiling somehow—dogs do that sometimes—but this was like a dog gone mad.

Perhaps that was what she had become.

Lowelli leaped again and sank her claws into Elsa's skin. She let out a cry as her clothing was ripped apart. She rolled over on top of the wolf and jumped off and sent a blast of ice that should have killed her. Instead, the wolf simply became a bloody but living mess.

Lowelli stood there for a moment, panting. Elsa stared at her, gaze locked in the inky black one of the wolf. Then Lowelli paused, panting. She looked at Elsa, then at king and queen, and then back at Elsa. Then she turned and lunged at Benjamin and Primrose.

"NO!"

She shot blast after icy blast at the wolf, freezing her to the spot just before she could reach the king and queen, weakening her, hitting her heart and her head and everywhere that Elsa knew would cause her pain.

"Elsa!" Primrose shrieked.

Lowelli fell to the ground, panting. She stared up at Elsa, and Elsa felt pity fill her heart.

Should she not do this? She would be killing another person . . . an act of unspeakable evil.

Then, the picture of Nathan's smile filled her mind. His awkward bow the first time they had met. Their crazy end to that snowball fight. Their kiss on Christmas Eve. All those times Nathan had made her laugh.

The time Elsa had let him go.

The time she realized she never really wanted him gone.

The time he was gone far beyond her reach.

The death caused by Hunter, who was ordered to kill anyone by Lowelli.

And there'd been so much more pain caused by her. . . .

People had inevitably died this evening.

So many people.

It hadn't been just being turned into wolves that was a threat to taking the kingdom.

And Lowelli in this state . . . people would die.

But no. She couldn't do this.

Elsa backed away, panting. She stared at the wolf for several long, tedious moments.

Then, before Elsa could do anything, Lowelli had lunged at Primrose, wrapped her claws around her, about to bite the queen's head off.

"_NO_!"

And then. . . . And then she turned Lowelli the wolf to pure ice.

And then the ice shattered into a million pieces.

Elsa stared at the spot where the creature had lain just moments before.

What had she done?

What had she _done_?

What had she _DONE_?

_Is this what is feels like to die?_

And then she knew nothing more.


	25. Chapter 25: The Fiery Grave

**A/N: The final chapter of the story. Read it as such.**

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

THE FIERY GRAVE

"Elsa? Elsa?! ELSA!"

"Just leave her be, Anna."

"But—Rapunzel—she—!"

"Leave her alone," Kaara interjected.

Anna fell silent. Kristoff hugged her, and she didn't protest. She sobbed into his arms.

"He's dead. He's really dead. No one ever dies. But they do. Why is he really dead?!"

Kristoff shook his head. Tears were dripping down his nose. "I dunno, Anna. Sometimes . . . people just have to go."

"But he's DEAD! The love of Elsa's life is DEAD!" Anna was sobbing into Kristoff's arms.

"I know, honey. I know."

"And we have another problem on our hands," said Kaara.

Ah. The wolves were back.

"Chocolate nuts no," Anna moaned.

"Chocolate nuts yes," Kristoff disagreed.

"This can't happen!" Anna exclaimed.

"It can," said Kaara. "Mary?"

Mary was staring at the wolves. She was sitting on the ground. She slowly stood up and walked towards one of them.

"Mary!" Rapunzel shrieked. "Stop!"

But she didn't. Mary held out a hand to the wolf.

The wolf looked at her curiously for a moment. Then it sniffed her hand and licked it.

Mary rubbed the wolf's back. Then she turned back to the others.

"I have a way," she said. She turned back to the wolf and kissed its forehead.

Soon, a young woman lay on the ground. She was wearing clothes.

Not ice clothes, but real, actual cloth clothes.

"I think we have the magic touch," said Eugene.

Mary glanced at him and gave him a slight smile. "I guess we do . . . brother."

Eugene scowled. "Sister."

"But that isn't our mom," Mary added.

Eugene shook his head immediately. "No. That will never ever be our mother."

* * *

People asked if Elsa wanted Nathan to be buried in Arendelle. She said no. People asked if she wanted him to be buried. Elsa said no.

She wanted him to be in a grave the way she would have had her parents be in if she could have. She wanted him to be burned, she wanted to see his ashes rise up into the sky, see that he was not gone by her means, that he was gone by fire and not by ice.

They agreed. No one protested. She wanted to stay here and watch it happen. She couldn't go back to Arendelle like this.

No.

She was too much of a wreck.

Too much of a mess.

Too much of everything.

* * *

Instead of a birthday celebration, it was a day of mourning. The ice in Kaara's chest had been removed. People there for Rapunzel's birthday were there. They said they were sorry, but Elsa knew that was a lie. How could they be sorry for a person they'd never met?

She knew it was impossible.

It was Grand Pabbie who said the farewell to Nathan. Elsa was glad it was. At least there was someone good who was doing this.

It was all a blur. The goodbyes from her friends. The tears.

Though one person stood out.

Kaitlyn from the dunking tank walked up to Elsa and looked at her with only sadness in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," she said.

And Elsa realized that she was.

* * *

The ice was everywhere, and yet no one seemed to question it.

And then Elsa watched as the man she had loved was burned to ashes.

* * *

The family visiting from Arendelle left the next day. They said goodbye and knew they would visit soon, sometime before Anna's baby was born. No one said anything about the ones who had just died.

Elsa was fine with that.

She stepped onto the ship and watched as Rapunzel and Eugene waved at them, Lily and Benjamin in their arms, Rapunzel's parents at their sides. The Stabbington Brothers had been allowed to get jobs as guards at the palace and had been too busy training to say goodbye. Red was with Rapunzel and Eugene, too, too traumatized by what had just happened, being abducted by Lowelli and being forced to walk innocent people to what she thought was their deaths—too traumatized to make the journey back home.

Kaara, Kristoff, Olaf, Summer, Anna, Mary, and Nya stood next to Elsa, not touching her, but not too far away from her either. They were silent as the cool summer breeze carried them out into the ocean, the distant dots on the horizon shrinking faster and faster until all around them was ocean. The clear blue skies seemed to mock Elsa, showing that they were happy, teasing her when she was beyond sadness, beyond agony, beyond anything.

She was worse of a wreck than her parents' sunken ship.

"So you have a brother now," Kaara commented after a while to Mary.

Mary nodded slowly. "I always have. I lost one . . . I'm not planning on losing the other."

"Where'd that come from?" asked Kristoff.

Mary sighed and shrugged. "Just . . . everything."

Elsa stayed silent; she knew without asking what Mary meant.

"What should we name our baby?" Anna wondered aloud after a moment.

There was a pause.

"Maybe if it's a boy, we could use Nathan as his middle name," Kristoff suggested.

Elsa could barely choke back the sob.

"Maybe. . . ." Anna's voice trailed off, and there was silence again. Then she turned to Elsa.

"So, what happened while I was a wolf?"

Elsa looked at her for a moment, not sure of what to say. Then she told her everything—the chaos of the ball, going into the woods, coming back to the kingdom with that strange blast of magic. Now, as she really thought about it, Elsa wondered how exactly that had happened.

Her sister was obviously thinking the same thing. "So things just went . . . boom? You were there?"

"Boom," Elsa agreed.

"But how?" Anna wondered.

Elsa turned her gaze to the ocean, and thought.

"My magic has always been growing. Ever since I was born.

"You know that day when Nathan almost died?"

"With the fire?"

Elsa nodded. "Yes. Grand Pabbie said something about magic, and ice, and . . . love."

Anna nodded, looking closely at her.

"Maybe it was that."

Anna didn't answer, but looked out at the water with her sister, still nodding slightly.

And it was left at that.

As the salty ocean breeze blew in her face, Elsa wondered. What would happen next? Where was she supposed to be headed now?

Would she lose more of the people closest to her heart?

Elsa shivered, even though she was immune to the cold. But it seemed a little . . . ticklish now. She shrugged it off. What could be worse than what had just happened?

Then, the Snow Queen wrapped her arms around her family, knowing that as long as she had any power within her, she would never let them go.

* * *

**A/N: And _scene_.**

**Well, people . . . this is it. The end of _The Wolf_. It has taken many, many months, but at last, the finale is here!**

**Now . . . as for a third book . . . I am not completely certain as to whether or not there will be one. I really need to finish up the rest of my stories on here before I start anything new. However, I have some ideas, and once all my other stories are cleared up and done, I may begin thinking more on them. Let me know if I should do book three or not and any ideas you might have! They could come in handy. ;) Thank you SO much for all of your wonderful support and patience. Please favorite, review, and share with your friends! Thanks you again sooooooooooo much!**

**Make sure to follow me if you want to know exactly when I'll be posting the possible third book (which would be called _Melted_). It might be a while.**

**Signing off for now. . . .**

**-MagicFireTiger**


End file.
